


Journal Entry 66

by Mother_Mortician, OolongTeacup



Category: Gravity Falls, Steven Universe (Cartoon), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Attacks, Blood and Violence, Bullies, Crossover, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Feels, Feels, Gem Fusion, Human/Monster Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Mother Issues, Multi, Multiple Crossovers, New Friends, Other, Phobias, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Transgender
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:35:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 42,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25516630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mother_Mortician/pseuds/Mother_Mortician, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OolongTeacup/pseuds/OolongTeacup
Summary: Steven lived with the Pines family in Gravity Falls. He had adopted them as a second family: he lived with them, worked as Mr. Mystery, and protected them whenever he could. Then a pair of tourists show up and, though they seem like they could be new friends, things start to get weird. The peaceful summer Steven had been hoping for starts to go wrong and suddenly he could lose all the friends he had made.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, sans (Horrortale)/OC
Comments: 13
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS A CROSSOVER BETWEEN TWO ALREADY PUBLISHED STORIES!
> 
> This can be read as a standalone story, but if you would like to see more of these characters, please consider reading the original works!  
> This work was a combined effort of Mother_Mortician and OolongTeacup, so from us to you, please enjoy the story! <3
> 
> 'Taking a Break in Gravity Falls' by Mother_Mortician  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/24235705/chapters/58395154
> 
> 'The House on Lane 66' by OolongTeacup  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/22922485/chapters/54791353

~~~ PART ONE ~~~

“Are you prepared for the strange?”

The girl lifted her purple feather boa up to her mouth, like a vampire would do with their cape, and whisper-yelled to passerby.

“Are you ready for mysteries that’ll hit you harder than a pine cone from the top of the tallest tree?”

The girl tossed the boa over her shoulder and stood tall upon her wooden box, lifting her arms up as she presented the log cabin behind her.

“Then look no further laddies, ladies, and gentle people! I, Madame Mystery, present to you, the Mystery Shack!” Mabel spun on her toes, flaring out the black bell of her dress, to catch the eyes of anyone who had yet to watch her. “With our very own Mr. Mystery here to show you all the hidden secrets of the world! Unexplained footprints, fuzzy pictures of what might be a leprechaun, as well as our very special, limited time event that will leave you with more questions than a crossword puzzle!”

Mable practically bounced with excitement atop her wooden box. The woods were a hot spot today for tourists and she proudly announced to any who could hear her about the wonderful things her grunkle’s Shack could provide to them. People of all kinds started to filter into the log cabin; mothers with small children, a pair of scrawny hippies, and one guy that looked like a grizzly bear in biker leathers.

“That’s right, folks, come on in!” Mabel encouraged two people who had stopped apart from the crowd to examine the building behind her. The taller of the two, a mulatto skinned girl in a flowing, dark green dress bent slightly to whisper in the ear of her companion and pointed up towards the roof of the Shack. Mabel couldn’t see the other’s face, since they kept their head down and the hood of their old, threadbare blue hoodie up, but she was determined to convince them to come in, too. Mabel looked up, at the creature they had begun to whisper about, and grinned. Pointing dramatically at the strange cross between a tiny cow and owl, Mabel waved her purple boa in the air for effect. “See what I mean? Don’t be shy, the Mystery Shack has more than just a cowl to totally blow your minds!”

The girl smiled at Mabel, then she and her companion joined the line of people filing into the Mystery Shack.

Inside, Steven was just finishing up the last touches to the outfit that would turn him into Mr. Mystery. He brushed off some dusty, yellow pine pollen from the sleeves of his black suit, straightened the tarnished, red bolo tie that Stan had worn for so many years, and strapped the eyepatch over his face. It was difficult to get the patch to sit just right, Steven couldn’t stop smiling for even a moment.

“Steven, we should be ready,” Dipper waved a hand around the corner into the back room, to check on Steven without taking an eye off the register. “Mabel’s brought in a full house, if you don’t start the tour we’ll have to move it out into the woods.”

“I’ll be out in two seconds,” Steven’s smile stretched past his face’s limit as he double checked himself in the mirror. 

“Don’t sweat it, kid, you look great!” Stan’s gruff voice announced his arrival in the back room. He clapped a broad, callused hand onto Steven’s shoulder and stood beside him to look into the mirror. Stan may have retired as Mr. Mystery, and he may have felt scruffy in his white, button down shirt and jeans, but the wrinkles around his eyes crinkled with pride as he gave Steven an approving smile.

“Full house again,” Steven told him as he adjusted the star pin on his lapel. Stan’s smile widened even more.

“I’ll go tell Mabel to start taking tickets for the next tour.” Stan ruffled Steven’s hair, his fingers coming away with a bit of the grease still clinging to the stubborn curls, and headed towards the front of the Shack. “You’re in charge while Ford and I are gone, big guy!”

Steven nodded, touched that Stan could trust him with the Mystery Shack. Maybe it was because it had been his idea to have Mabel act as Madame Mystery. Thanks to her, the Shack had never been busier and Dipper could barely keep up as the lone cashier.

Steven rubbed his hands together, one last little motion to psych himself up, and walked through the red, velvet curtains into the main part of the shop. Show time.

“Welcome, everyone!” Steven barely had to jump from the ground to activate his powers, he was so happy he had been practically floating already. The crowd gasped as Steven drifted towards the vaulted ceiling, his arms spread wide in greeting. As he bumped against the rafters and knocked a bit of dust loose (he was just a little too buoyant) the people below started to clap.

Dipper sat at the register, watching Steven wave his cane to the crowd as he presented the first mystery on their tour. He had seen Steven’s act a dozen times, but it never got old to him. He loved seeing the crowd react to seeing real magic, then hearing them try to guess where they had hid the pulleys and wires to make Steven fly.

“How is he doing that?” A girl asked. Dipper smirked and focused on straightening a pin on his denim vest so that she wouldn’t know he was listening in. “Can you see a wire on him, Axe?”

“...no.” A low, deliberately slow voice replied. “...that’s real magic.”

Dipper couldn’t resist a glance. Most people didn’t believe in magic. Dipper watched this pair out of the corner of his eyes. One was a girl with long, wavy hair and wore a dark green dress. The other wore an old, blue hoodie and grey shorts. It was hard to tell what they looked like, their hood was up and they kept their hands stuffed in the pockets of their hoodie. Dipper slowly turned his head, his eyes widening as he noticed their legs. They were far too thin and white. Where those-?

“Hey, Dipstick.”

The air left Dipper’s lungs like he had been punched. He knew that smell, that gross, smokey plant smell. But he shouldn’t be in the Shack, he wasn’t allowed. Not after last time. He was banned. And if he was here, that meant-

“You listening to us, weirdo?” A second, creaky voice asked and Dipper felt his stomach drop to the floor. Two guys moved in to block the counter in front of him. He recognized the red, plaid shirts with the sleeves ripped off. He knew those jeans with holes in their knees and the jerks inside of those clothes. Their names were Jet and James. They towered over Dipper, wearing matching smirks on their pimpled faces.

“We’ve got a complaint to make.” The taller of the two, Jet, leaned on the counter. He crossed his arms over his chest and hid a wrist brace on his left arm inside the folds of his plaid shirt. Dipper’s nose wrinkled as the powerful smell of chewing tobacco drifted out from between Jet’s teeth. Dipper felt his heart pound and his breath came in short gasps.

“A c-complaint?” Dipper asked, unsure if he had heard right with all the blood rushing through his ears. If that’s all they wanted, fine. Just say that one thing and then leave.

“Yeah, it’s about the bathrooms.” James snickered and rested his scuffed elbow on top of the register. “See, we wanted to use them. But we don’t feel safe, you know?”

“W-why’s that?” Dipper asked, silently praying they found spiders the size of their holey shoes under the toilet and got bit. The jerks deserved that, for all the torment they had given him.

“See, we don’t feel safe in them,” Jet sneered, the thick, tar scent on his breath made Dipper’s stomach turn “cuz we heard there’s a pervert lurking in them.”

“We heard some chick is dressing like a dude to try and stare at our junk.” James’ creaky voice echoed in Dippers ears. “That’s kind of fucked up, isn’t it?”

“So we want to do this place a service.” Jet’s tongue poked at his bottom lip as he moved his wad of tobacco around. “We’re gonna make sure the other guys feel safe, so you’re going to bring the key out back and let us in the bathroom.”

“Isn’t that nice of us?” James took a small object out of his pocket. Dipper’s eyes widened in fear as he recognized the pocket knife he was being threatened with. “Your curly haired guard dog fucked up Jet’s wrist, then you got us kicked out, banned us for life, and we generously offered to beat the shit out of some sick creep for you. Why don’t you say ‘thank you’ before you show us out back?”

Dipper started to sweat as he fully realized what these jerks were intending to do. It made the band over his chest feel too tight to breathe under. His gaze darted towards Steven, who was distracted with entertaining his audience. Steven hadn’t yet noticed Jet or James, the crowded store hid them too well. Dipper could dive behind the counter. He could yell for Steven and hope that he didn’t feel the knife in James’ dirty hand before-

“Try anything and I’ll slice your face open.” James narrowed his eyes and pressed the button on his knife, freeing the shiny blade.

There was no moisture in his mouth, his tongue was a bag of sand. Dipper knew these jerks would do it, he knew they were petty enough to hurt him in front of all these people, especially after Steven humiliated them last time.

But he couldn’t get to his feet. His knees were shaking. Everything was shaking. His sweat felt cold and he was frozen and if he could just  _ say something _ he knew help would come but his words had died and-

“Are you okay?”

Dipper glanced away from Jet and James. The girl in the dress was coming over, her companion trailing behind her. Her bright green eyes were narrowed at Jet and James, who had just managed to hide the knife at her approach, and she looked towards Dipper again. 

“You look pale. Do you need some fresh air?” She asked Dipper. Say yes. Just say yes, he told himself. Just one little word and he could get away from his tormentors and then he could yell for help.

“Wait your turn, this freak’s helping us first.” Jet spat tobacco juice onto the floor at her feet. Dipper heard a low growl, like an angry wolf, from her companion.

“Don’t call him that.” The girl’s tone immediately turned to steel and she bristled. “Don’t call people freaks. Just leave him alone.”

“Why don’t you butt out?” James pocketed his knife and turned away from Dipper to face the girl. “This is none of your business, weirdo.”

Dipper took the chance. He waved at Steven, jumping in his seat as he tried to call out past the lump in his throat. Steven paused, mid sentence, and his eyes narrowed with confusion. Some of the color drained from his face as he finally spotted Jet and James.

“I don’t care whose business it is, he’s just a kid and he’s terrified!” The girl raised her voice, drawing the attention from the edge of the crowd.

“He’s just showing us where the bathroom is.” Jet sneered.

“...liar.” The girl’s companion spoke up. They tilted their face up ever so slightly and Dipper could just see a vacant, toothy smile beneath the hood. “...your intent… is malicious.”

“You were going to hurt him!? What is wrong with you?” The girl’s voice became shrill and she shoved James. Steven stiffened, then he leapt over the crowd towards the counter. 

“Shit, the monster’s coming!” Jet noticed Steven’s approach and scrambled towards the door, shoving the girl to the floor as he fled. James shortly followed, stepping on the girl’s ankle as he ran. 

“Are you alright?” Steven asked Dipper, then to the girl on the floor as he helped her to her feet. She nodded, but Steven noticed her wince when she tried to put her weight on her ankle. Dipper turned to look for Jet and James, to point them out to Steven, and saw that they had been cut off by the girl’s companion.

Despite being shorter than them by far, the guy in the blue hoodie was holding both of them off the ground by the front of their plaid shirts. Dipper’s eyes widened as he saw the skeletal hands and the red plasma dripping from them. A strong smell, like iron, filled the Shack.

“...what’s wrong… with being a monster?” The blue hood finally came up and Dipper saw his face. It was just a skull. Nothing but bone and a single red light in the left socket.

“You’re better than them, Axe!” The girl said as she leaned on the counter, her brow furrowed in concern as she stared at her companion. “Don’t do it. Not here. You don’t need to.”

“...but he… hurt you.” Axe growled, the red light vanishing from his socket. The girl called out to Axe again, begging him to leave the jerks alone.

Dipper fled into the back of the Shack, leaving Steven up front. Steven watched the skull faced guy, Axe, reluctantly drop Jet and James. Behind Steven, the crowd started to whisper.

“Is this part of the act?”

“That skull mask is so realistic!”

“Did that girl say those two were going to hurt that kid?”

Steven rushed over to Jet and James, his fists clenched with barely subdued fury and starting to glow pink. He grabbed them roughly by the backs of their plaid shirts and lifted them up, ready to pummel them. How dare they come back after the things they said before? How  _ dare they _ come back and hurt Dipper again?!

Jet and James struggled against Steven as he lifted them high into the air, preparing to slam them into the ground and show  _ them _ what happened when they  _ hurt his friends and- _

Steven stilled, watching their fragile, human hands try to pry off his pink fists. One of them had a wrist brace on and Steven remembered what happened last time. He had gotten too angry and he hurt them. They were jerks, they deserved it, but it was so easy for Steven to break them if he wasn’t careful. 

To shatter them.

He didn’t know what to do. Steven hated violence, he didn’t want to hurt people. So he dragged them over to the exit. He kicked it open and the wooden door banged roughly against the wall outside, shivering on its hinges, and he tossed the lowlife jerks into the dirt.

“Just.. get the fuck out of here.” Steven growled, his clenched fists still pink with fury. “Don’t ever come back. This is your last warning.”

Mabel, who was outside selling tickets out to a small group of tourists, stilled at the sight of Jet and James in the dirt. Without saying a word to anyone, she clenched the bills tightly in her fist and shoved her way back into the store to search for Dipper.

“Sorry everyone, that’s the end of the tour!” Steven said to the packed Shack. He had to get in back and make sure that Dipper was okay, he had to tell Stan and Ford what happened. 

There were many groans and mumbled complaints from the tourists. One even shouted that they wanted a refund. Steven took deep breaths and gently ushered the crowd out of the door while the pink glow slowly faded from his hands. “Sorry, no refunds. Store policy and all that…”

At the back of the crowd, Steven spotted the girl and Axe. Axe was supporting her, the bone on his brow crinkled with concern as she tried to walk while nursing her ankle. Steven felt a rush of empathy for her and stopped them before they made it to the door.

“You two can stay, if you want to.” Steven offered and gestured towards a wooden chair for the girl. “I can help you with your ankle. It’s the least I can do after you stood up for Dipper.”

“Oh, thank you.” The girl gave Steven a warm smile. “I’d appreciate that.”

“...let me… get it, Willow.” Axe said, stopping her from walking across the store. He lifted his skeletal hand and red plasma surrounded one of the legs of the chair. With a flick of his wrist, the chair slid across the floor and came to a stop next to them.

Steven watched for a moment, curious, before darting behind the velvet curtain in search of Dipper and Mabel. He could ask questions after making sure the twins were okay.

A quick scan of the small back room showed Steven that Dipper had retreated past the second door and into the house. Steven poked his head into the old fashioned kitchen and called out, “Dipper? Mabel? Are you guys in here?”

“Over here, Steven!”

He followed the sound of Mabel’s voice around the corner and down the two steps into the living room. Both of the twins were sunk into the squishy, old couch. Mabel had her arms around Dipper, her feather boa tickling his wet face. Despite Dipper’s red, puffy eyes, it looked like he had stopped crying.

“Are they gone?” Dipper asked, his voice cracking. Steven nodded and Dipper gave a heavy sigh of relief.

“I can’t believe those assholes had the nerve to show their zit covered faces again!” Mabel huffed irritably and squeezed her brother tightly. “Seriously! I’m glad you threw them out, Steven. If Grunkle Stan hadn’t gone grocery shopping with Grunkle Ford, I bet they would’ve busted those jerks’ noses for coming back!”

“Are you okay?” Steven asked Dipper, pulling his eyepatch off since he no longer had to play the part of Mr. Mystery. “Is there anything I can do?”

Dipper shrugged. “Not really. I kind of wish I could’ve thanked that girl for standing up for me, even though we’re total strangers.”

“If you’re feeling up for it, you still can.” Steven gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. “That girl, Willow I think her name is, hurt her ankle. I told her to wait in the Shack while I checked on you and then I’d go back to heal her.”

“Heal her? But you just met her? Don’t you like… not want people to know you’re different?” Dipper asked, his eyes wide with confusion. 

Steven let out a small chuckle and tried to wave the confusion away with a small motion. “Well, they’re a bit different too. I’m sure everything will be fine.” He tried to add some reassurance to that last sentence. Not to reassure Dipper or Mabel, but himself. Steven fidgeted with his eye patch, turning it over and over in his hands while he thought how to approach these new people. What if, his anxiety asked, it wasn’t fine?

Out in the empty Shack, Willow sat patiently in the wooden chair, her injured ankle resting on her knee and showing off the white thigh high socks she wore. Axe stood behind her, his arms draped over her shoulders and the side of his white skull resting against her toffee colored cheek as they whispered quietly to each other.

“...I won’t… let them go… next time.” Axe mumbled to her, his slow, deliberate words carrying just a hit of a growl. “...no one… hurts my alpha.”

“We’re trying to spread positive relations, remember?” Willow said gently, turning her head to kiss Axe’s cheekbone. “You did a good thing, telling me about the fear in that boy’s soul so I could do something. We don’t want humans to fear monsters. If you attacked those two, that crowd would’ve been terrified.”

“...are you sure… we should stay?” Axe asked with a tilt of his skull. “...I’m glad you… want to show me… your world, but… there are lots of… strange scents here and… I sense magic… everywhere.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Willow traced her fingers along the length of Axe’s blue sleeve, feeling the bones underneath the cloth. “I didn’t know that there was magic here when I picked this place for us to visit. I just thought you’d like the forest. But that boy in the suit didn’t kick us out after he saw you, so I feel like this is a good chance for us to talk about monster relations to the locals.”

“... we should be careful.” Axe affectionately nuzzled Willow’s cheek. His single, red eye light darted towards the velvet curtains they had seen the others disappear behind. “...that boy in the suit has… a very deep well… of magic.”

“You think so?” Willow asked, following Axe’s line of sight to the curtain behind the register.

Axe nodded. “...even with… the soul noise from… that human crowd… I could still hear his… clearly. ...he’s… not entirely… human.”

Willow’s green eyes shined brightly with curiosity. She turned to Axe, to ask him what else he could sense with his monster abilities, but her words tripped over her tongue as the velvet curtains fluttered aside and the boy in the suit returned.

“Oh thank the stars, you’re still here.” Steven sighed with relief, his hand over his heart, as he walked around the counter towards Willow and Axe. Steven would have felt terrible if they had left before he could help Willow with her injury, especially after what she did for Dipper.

“Sorry for all the commotion, it’s not usually like that here.” Mabel added, trailing her purple feather boa into the shop as she followed Steven. Dipper slipped in quietly after her, like a nervous shadow, while he chewed on his words.

“That’s alright, we don’t really have anything ‘usual’ happen around us.” Willow smiled broadly, her words warm and welcoming. As she saw Dipper slip in, her smile softened and she asked him gently, “Are you doing okay after all that?”

“I’ll be okay,” Dipper said while offering a small smile. “Thanks for that… I really appreciate it”. His gaze slowly fell to the floor. He wished someone else didn’t have to step in for him, especially a stranger. He wished he didn’t panic like a deer in headlights when they showed their stupid faces. He’d dealt with worse; why did those jerks seem so much more terrifying than demons? 

Willow nodded, her green eyes darting over Dipper as he spoke. “Of course, I’m happy I could help. I have had to deal with bullies all my life. There are a lot of times I wished someone else would have been willing to step in, so I try to be that person for others. I’m just glad you didn’t think I was butting in. What’s your name?”

“No, it’s fine… I don’t know what came over me, and um… I’m Dipper.” 

“Hello Dipper!” Willow gave him a small, cheery wave and pointed at her companion still draped around her shoulders. “This is Axe, and you can call me Willow.”

“And I’m Mabel, his twin sister!” Mabel added enthusiastically. “And this tall glass of water is Steven,” she said, gesturing to Steven, who scrunched his nose at his introduction, but politely waved. 

Willow giggled, her smile becoming a bit more mischievous as she looked between Mabel and Steven. “You better protect him, then. It’s hot out and those tourist girls will be thirsty from hiking.”

Steven’s hand came up to cover his entire face. He sighed, then put both of his hands up in the air as he tried to defend himself. “Not like that.” 

Mabel giggled at Steven’s flustered response. “Yeah, no, we’re just friends.” She gently jabbed Steven in the ribs with her elbow. “Good friends,” she added with her eyes slightly squinted above her smile.

Dipper looked over at her and rolled his eyes. “Why are you like this?” he asked seriously, but a small chuckle escaped from Steven. 

“...like what?” Axe asked with a tilt of his skull. His red eye light darted between Mabel, Dipper, and Steven, but eventually came back to rest on Dipper with a curious shine to it.

“Like uh…” Dipper shrugged his shoulders and looked over to Mabel, not really sure how to answer this. 

“Hey, I got permission from a president to be silly, you can’t blame me,” Mabel said jokingly. She placed her hand on her hips and stuck her tongue out at Dipper. 

“But really, we’re just friends,” Steven explained to Willow once he realized the twins were done with their playful bickering. 

“S-sorry! I didn’t mean to assume!” Willow’s toffee colored cheeks flushed pink. “I just, well, it’s harder to read intent in humans and your body language suggested…” Her color went from pink to red and she lowered her head, flustered. Axe let out a slow, tumbling chuckle.

“...you could’ve just… asked me.” Axe said, his finger twirling at a lock of her hair. “...I could’ve told you… that neither of them… bare marks.”

Steven’s eyebrow rose in confusion. “What do you mean marks?” 

Axe’s red eye light settled on Steven. “...it’s scent and…” Axe pulled at his white t-shirt, exposing his collarbone and the bite mark in the bone. “...physical marks. ...to show that… a beta and alpha… are committed to each other.”

“Oh Connie’s done...I-I-I mean… Humans don’t do that, really.” Steven stuttered, his face plastered in an awkward smile. Both twins’ eyes narrowed at him with suspicion. 

Axe withdrew his arms from around Willow and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his blue hoodie. He slowly meandered over to Steven, his red eye light narrowed as he studied Steven’s neck. “...I can tell… you’re not… lying but… you don’t have… any mark.”

“Axe, relationships work differently for humans. I told you about them, remember?” Willow tried to get up from the chair, winced as she put her weight on her bad ankle, and settled back down. “They don’t use scent or marking; we can’t pick up on things like that.” To the others, she said quickly, “I’m sorry, he’s still learning human customs. He’s not trying to be impolite.”

“It’s okay, it took me a while to learn human customs too.” Steven offered Axe an understanding smile.

“So Axe is right? You’re not entirely human?” Willow asked, her eyebrows raised in surprise. “You look like it, to me.”

“Got my looks from my dad,” Steven said with a small, nervous chuckle. “I’m uh… half gem. That’s a kind of alien.” He pinned one of his arms to his side with his hand and shifted on his feet.

“...is that… a subspecies… of monster?” Axe asked with another confused tilt of his skull. “...I thought… we were all… under Mt. Ebott?”

Steven tensed in response, then tried to reason with himself that Axe wasn’t saying that word, the M one, out of malevolence. “No um… alien as in like… from space,” Steven responded, pointing towards the sky. 

Axe looked up at the ceiling, his expression unreadable beyond the vacant grin on his skull. “...I think… my older brother… would like you. ...he likes stars.”

“Can’t blame him, stars are pretty nice.” Steven smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. He agreed that real stars in space were nice, but he was getting a bit tired of the symbol from his dad’s old shirts. 

“Excuse me, um,” Willow piped up, “It’s really nice meeting you all, but do you think you could help me with my ankle? It’s getting late and Axe and I haven’t found our campsite yet.”

“Oh shi- sorry, yeah, I can help with that” Steven hurried over to get closer to Willow. As he was kneeling down, he paused and mumbled, “Um… this is awkward.”

“It’s okay,” Willow looked over towards Axe, who had stiffened at Steven’s sudden approach to her. “If you forgot the binding wrap, I can wait another minute while you grab it. I don’t think my ankle is broken, after all. The jerk just stepped on it and twisted it.”

“No it’s um… I heal using my spit.” Steven looked up at her with a slight grimace on his face. 

Willow tilted her head in confusion, then her expression hardened. Her voice, having been warm so far, suddenly turned cold. “I’m not taking off my socks.”

“Right… rightrightright. Well, um… How about this?” Steven stood back up, licked his finger, and held it up to show Willow. “I can just poke the skin on your arm. It  _ should  _ still work.” 

“And you’re,” Willow glanced anxiously over at Axe, at Mabel and Dipper watching curiously, then back at Steven, “-you’re just healing me, not trying to mark me? Just so we’re clear.”

Steven’s expression looked as though his soul just left his body and his face paled. “No no no….nothing like that,” he said quickly, a bit of anxiety building in his chest. He’d never leave a physical mark on Connie, why would this near stranger think he’d do that? 

Willow waited until Axe gave her a small nod, then held her wrist out to Steven. “Alright, I’m okay with it, then. Would this spot work?”

“Yep,” Steven agreed with a sharp inhale and gently pressed his spit covered finger onto Willow’s toffee colored skin. A small shimmer floated up into the air at the contact. He looked up at her in anticipation; hoping she felt better already. 

Willow’s green eyes widened in surprise. She rolled her once bad ankle, testing for pain, and then burst out laughing. “Oh, I’m so glad it’s not like that time when… I thought I was going to get all weird! Hahaha!”

Steven stood there with an awkward smile and his eyebrows raised, while Dipper and Mabel exchanged confused looks. Axe returned to Willow’s side, offered her a bony hand, and helped her to her feet.

“So… I take it you feel better now?” Steven asked hopefully. Willow nodded gratefully to him.

“It does feel better, thank you.” Willow smiled sheepishly at Steven, Dipper, and Mabel. “I’m sorry for causing you guys any trouble and I appreciate that you guys were so kind to us; especially to Axe. Most humans take a lot of convincing not to be scared when they first meet a monster.”

Steven’s skin started to dimly glow from hearing that word again, but he shook his head to make the glow go away and hoped no one had noticed. It was hard to feel that way, though, since Axe was staring at Steven again. But Axe had been silently staring at everyone in turns, so maybe he didn’t notice?

“It’s not a problem at all, it’s cool meeting new species,” Mabel said happily. She glanced over at Dipper for half a second before turning back with even more enthusiasm. “Hey! We’re having a little barbeque-cookout-thing tomorrow, you’re totally welcome to come. We have tons of food and it’ll be a lot of fun!” She smiled brightly at Willow and Axe. “It’ll be here, at the Shack,” she added with a thumbs up. 

At the mention of food, Axe’s red eye light glowed brightly and his vacant grin widened into a smile. He turned his skull towards Willow. “...I want to go.”

“Sounds like a plan, then!” Willow nodded, then turned her attention to Dipper. She lowered her voice, so that the others wouldn’t hear, and whispered to him, “Hey, I know we don’t know each other very well, but if you need someone to talk to you can come find me in the campgrounds. I’ve dealt with guys like those two before. Maybe I can give you some tips?”

Dipper whispered back, “I think,” he glanced over at Steven and Mabel, “-I think I’ll be fine… thanks.” Willow nodded her understanding and Dipper gave her an appreciative smile. 

“Awesome!” Mabel almost shouted in her excitement. 

  
  


~~~~~~~

  
  


Connie had arrived early the next day for the barbeque. When she arrived Steven knew his attitude was a bit off. He was trying not to think about his frustration towards Jet and James, and he tried to hide it as he gathered things together outside for the grill. It just didn’t make sense to Steven. He could reason with intergalactic tyrants but not Earth-bound, transphobic assholes? 

“Did you take your medications this morning?” Connie asked him as she turned Steven away from the bags of charcoal to face her. She combed her fingers through his curly hair and slid her arms around his waist to gently comfort him. He had just sighed one too many times, or had stayed silent for too long, and now she knew.

“Yeah. Just… a bit frustrated,” he admitted while burying his face into the crook of her neck, hugging her back gently. Steven hesitated, then slowly started to mumble the events of the prior day to her. The large crowds, then Jet and James showing up, Dipper’s anxiety and his own frustration with not knowing how to prevent it from happening… again.

He forgot to mention the fact that he met a walking skeleton. It slipped his mind, since he was so focused on the jerks and what he felt like was his mistake for not keeping them away. 

“I know, but hey,” Connie gently pushed him away from her so he could look into her big, brown eyes. “Dipper’s doing fine now and we’re going to have a good day today, okay?” She offered Steven a comforting smile, and he smiled back. 

“Okay.”

~~~

Mabel forgot to mention the invited guests to her uncles until a few hours before the barbeque was supposed to happen. 

“So you invited strangers?” Stan questioned; Ford standing next to him.

“Yeah, but they helped us yesterday,” Mabel pleaded. “And one is a monster!” she added, hoping Ford would support her decision to invite them. 

“What kind of monster?” Ford asked with a hint of excitement and a raised brow, receiving a glance from Stan.

“A skeleton,” Mabel said, her smile wide. 

“Interesting,” Ford mumbled, an unreadable expression on his face. Stan’s expression was confused, but he didn’t want to sound like an idiot, so he didn’t ask any questions. 

“Well, lucky we got groceries yesterday, or else we wouldn’t have enough food.” Stan said, crossing his arms. 

“You mean,  _ Steven  _ got groceries yesterday,” Ford corrected his twin. “He did write the list and pay for them, after all.” 

“But WE went and got them, didn’t we?” Stan asked, trying not to feel completely useless. Ford chuckled at his brother’s attempts. 

“Yeah, Stanley, we did” 

~~~

“Where are you two going?” Dipper questioned the young couple as they moved through the kitchen. Steven was in only his swim trunks. Connie was wearing shorts and a tank top, a book in her hand.

“Well, Mabel set up the pool,” Steven explained, “so I’m going to lay down in it and cool off. And Connie-” he used his thumb to point at his girlfriend standing behind him, “-is just gonna sit next to it with her feet in it.” 

Dipper’s gaze moved over to Connie and he quirked his eyebrow curiously at the book in her hand.

“I got some summer reading to do,” she clarified, holding up the book and giving it a small shake. “Feel free to join us if you want.” 

Dipper nodded in response and watched as they walked out. Dipper turned back to his work on the fruit salad and started to daydream about what it will be like when he could wear just swim trunks. At least, with Connie there with just her feet in it, that gives him a doable option and he didn’t feel bad about wearing a shirt. 

With his mind made up, Dipper covered the bowl of cut fruit with plastic wrap and headed upstairs to change. It seemed to take him no time at all, despite a furious silent debate with himself on whether or not he could wear his vest, too.

As Dipper made his way outside, he found Steven floating in the small pool of water with his eyes closed. Dipper, with a small glance of jealousy at Steven’s bare torso, went over and sat himself next to Connie with his journal and a pen in his hands. Steven opened his eyes just to greet him with a split-second smile before he closed them again. Mabel briefly popped her head outside to check on everyone, then announced that she had started making some cupcakes with Stan and Ford and couldn’t join them. 

Steven was starting to drift into sleep when he got a small tall on his leg from Connie. She was talking, but with his ears under the water, everything she said was warped. So he sat up and, while shaking the water from his ears, said, “Huh?”

“Axe and Willow are here,” Dipper clarified, pointing out the pair rounding the corner of the Shack.

Axe was easy for Dipper to spot; he wore the same grey shorts and faded blue hoodie as yesterday with the hood over his skull. Willow, on the other hand, wore a lavender colored sundress with a black shawl covering her shoulders and black, thigh high socks to match.

“Hello, Dipper!” Willow called out cheerfully, waving her free hand. The other held a bulky, plastic bag bearing the logo of the local grocery store. “Steven and his friend, too!”

The three teens waved in response and Steven shouted out happily, “This is Connie!” while gesturing to his girlfriend. 

“Nice to meet you, Connie,” Willow smiled as she and Axe approached the poolside gathering. She introduced Axe as well, since he was too busy curiously studying Connie with his red eye light to say anything. Willow offered Steven the bag she held, her eyes falling to stare curiously at the pink gem embedded in his stomach. She flushed and looked away, adding apologetically, “I, um, brought some potato salad and chips. I thought it would be rude of us to show up and not bring anything to share…”

“Oh wow, thank you!” Steven said as he stood up entirely from the water, and looked down at his drenched body. “Um…” 

“I’ll take it to the table.” Dipper offered, took the bag from Willow’s hands, and walked over to the little picnic table that Mabel had decorated up with bouquets of flowers. Axe followed Dipper with his gaze, his red light shining brightly, and silently matched his steps towards the table.

“Axe Gaster don’t you dare touch any food that hasn’t been offered to you!” Willow barked after him. Axe paused, looked back at her, and nodded once before trailing after Dipper.

Connie handed Steven a towel and he dried his body and hair, causing his hair to go from long and wavy to big and poofy within seconds. Willow’s eyes followed his motions, then fell to his gem again before she looked resolutely away.

“I didn’t know this was a pool party,” Willow said awkwardly, her fingers tightening the black shawl around her back and shoulders, her gaze on the pine needle strewn ground.

“Oh, it’s not,” Steven said as he wrapped the towel around his shoulders. “Mabel just set up the pool after checking what the weather was going to be like. I’m getting out now though, so it’s not much of a pool party anymore,” he ended with a slight chuckle. 

“He grew up on the beach, so he usually never misses a water opportunity,” Connie said with a small giggle as she stood up with Steven. 

Willow smiled shyly. “I understand. I like the water a lot, too. I used to go swimming all the time before…” she trailed off, a pained look on her face, and her hands tugged at her shawl again. “Nevermind. It’s not important. Uh, thanks and, um, I’m going to go find Mabel and let her know we’re here.”

Willow scurried off, her face red with shame.

Steven’s expression was suddenly full of concern and his heart felt heavy, but when Connie looked at him and offered him a smile, he relaxed. However, the concern did not go away. 

While Dipper took everything out of the bag and placed it on the table, he could’ve sworn he felt eyes on him. ...the Hide Behind? When he turned around, he saw that Axe had followed him and jumped in surprise. Dipper hadn’t heard a single step, despite all the crunchy leaf litter strewn across the ground.

“Oh! Hey, didn’t know you came along… anything I can help you with?”

Axe just stood quietly, his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and his red eye light shining. The vacant grin on his skull widened slightly, but that was his only response to show he had heard Dipper. 

“O-okay…” Dipper mumbled, slowly turned back around, and started adjusting the placement of things on the table to act casual. But he still felt eyes on him. He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Axe still standing there. “Well… I’m gonna go…” He said awkwardly and he started slowly walking back toward the house. 

Dipper saw the slight movement across the ground as Axe’s shadow followed him, matching his steps as he took them. Dipper started walking a bit faster, but Axe did the same. ”Fuck,” Dipper whispered under his breath and started jogging without the arm motions; but Axe still followed. Dipper was officially freaked out and broke into a run.

Axe finally stopped chasing a few yards from the house Dipper and stood still, watching the teenager run towards the Shack with an amused grin on his skull.

Dipper only stopped running when he literally ran into his Grunkle Stan, causing him to almost drop the bowl of fruit salad Mabel made him carry. “Geez kid, what’s the big hurry?” Stan asked, the bowl in his arms teetering dangerously before he caught it. Behind Stan stood Dipper’s Great Uncle Ford and his twin sister, Mabel.

“Are you alright?” Ford asked, noticing the panic in Dipper’s eyes. 

“It’s just that-” Dipper turned around and saw Axe standing a few yards away. “N-nothing. It’s fine.” Ford followed Dipper’s gaze to the skeleton silently standing there and his eyebrows rose in surprise. 

“Greetings!” Ford said as he balanced a plastic container in one hand so he could wave. Axe tilted his skull, his red light following Ford’s six fingers, then drifted to the bowls of food in Ford and Stan’s hands. He trotted over, his smile hopeful.

“...hello.” Axe said, his slow, deliberate voice tinged with excitement.

Stan stiffened up a bit, but kept walking to the table with the group. A stiff “Heya,” was all he could manage. 

“It’s a pleasure to be meeting you! I have met an array of skeletons in my day, but never any from this dimension!” Ford said brightly to their guest. “You are from this dimension...right?” he asked, a single brow raised. 

“...what’s a… dimension?” Axe asked and tilted his skull as he fell into stride next to Ford. “...I’m from… Mt. Ebott… and District Four.”

“Mount Ebott…. I think I remember coming across that name while I was trying to figure out where I wanted to study. Are there many monsters there?”

Axe’s vacant smile fell slightly as he thought. At one point, he took his skeletal hand out to tap his fingerbone against his teeth. “...I think… my brother… told me once?” Axe shrugged and his vacant smile returned. “...I don’t remember. ...too many.”

“Oh, I see…” Ford nodded, slightly disappointed in the lack of information, as he placed the container onto the table. But one failed question would not deter him. “Well, there are some frozen patties in the house still, would you care to assist me?” Ford offered Axe a lopsided smile. 

“...I’m not… allowed to... handle food,” Axe said, his red light glowing brightly. “...but I’d… like to watch… you cook.”

“Alright, then! The grill should be hot enough for us to get started. Dipper, could you go get Steven so he can cook his patties?” 

“On it!” Dipper chirped, and ran to the pool. Ford and Stan walked into the house to get the rest of the food, while Mabel stayed outside with Axe. She noticed him eyeing the food on the table. 

“You want one?” she asked as she picked up and handed him a snickerdoodle cupcake she made. “I won’t tell, if you don’t,” she added with a wink and a smile. 

The red light in his socket sparked with joy and Axe gently took the cupcake from Mabel. He tilted his skull back, his jaws wide, and dropped the cupcake between his teeth. A red, glowing tongue darted out to lick away some frosting that had gotten stuck on his fingers and Mabel’s eyes widened with surprise.

“Oh… Heh, I thought you were gonna...” She made a small unwrapping motion with her hands. “But… whatever floats your boat.” She smiled before letting out a small happy giggle. “Hope the wrapper didn’t ruin the flavor.” 

“...I think… that flavor is my… second favorite.” Axe said, smiling. “...the ones… you gave me. ...I don’t know… the name. …they’re like cinnamon… but not.”

“Snickerdoodles?” Mabel asked, tilting her head. 

Axe nodded, repeating the name to himself under his breath so he would be sure to remember it. He studied Mabel for a long moment, his red light darting over her, and then he held out his bony hand to her. “...want to see… something good?”

“Um… sure,” she said and hesitated, only slightly scared. Mabel glanced over to the pool, then over to other three teens making their way towards the grill. To Axe, she asked, “Is it far?” 

“...yes.” Axe held his hand out a bit further for her. “...but I’ll use… a shortcut. ...don’t be… scared. ...Willow liked it when… I did this for her and… I’ll make sure… you don’t fall.”

Mabel nodded and took his hand. Since he had stood up for Dipper, and that girl with him seemed to trust him, so he couldn’t have bad intentions, right? But then part of what he said hit her. “Wait, f-fall?” 

Mabel stiffened, realizing as Axe spun her into his arms that it was too late to change her mind. She felt a pressing darkness on her, squeezing her on all sides while the smell of iron filled her nose, and then it was gone. The world around her had changed in the blink of an eye and she was surrounded by branches and the thick smell of pine sap. She started to turn her head, to look for the ground below, but Axe stopped her.

“...stay quiet.” Axe whispered into Mabel’s ear, adjusted his grip so that he held her with one arm, and gracefully leaped further up the pine tree. He must have deemed them high enough, because then Axe started to run across the high, thin branch like a tightrope. He jumped through the curtain of pine needles, holding Mabel close, and onto the side of a cliff wall.

His bony fingers dug into the solid rock like it was clay, the copper slippers on his feet scrambling for purchase on the sheer face, then Axe lifted Mabel up to sit on the ledge above them before climbing up himself.

Axe held a fingerbone to his teeth, showing Mabel he wanted her to stay quiet, and pointed towards the back of the shallow cave he had taken her to. In the back, their little ears perked up curiously, were a trio of bobcat kittens.

A smile took over Mabel’s entire face as she held back any sound of excitement. This is definitely in the top five cutest things she has ever seen. Axe watched her, a smile on his skull, and held his hand out for her to take when she was ready to go back. She quickly and quietly reached for the camera case around her neck, pulled out the camera, and snapped a picture. Once it was taken, she took Axe’s hand. 

He moved her arms so they were around his neck vertebrae and gave her a small squeeze, whispering, “...hold tight,” before dropping them off the side of the cliff. He had to use both hands on the wall, his bony fingers scarring the rock as he slowly brought them down, and then Mabel felt the darkness pressing in on her once more.

The next blink showed Mabel the picnic table she was just at, the bouquets filling the humid air with their flowery smell to chase away the iron lingering in her nose. Axe released Mabel and stepped back. He shoved his hands inside of the pockets of his blue hoodie, a vacant grin on his skull. It was like they had never left.

“Holy Shit! AHHHH that was amazing!” Mabel exclaimed, a little too loud given how close she was standing next to Axe. He just smiled broadly, a light dusting of red appearing on his nasal ridge.

“Dude…” Dipper grabbed Mabel and pulled her away from Axe, an angry snarl on his face. “Where the hell did you go with my sister? It’s like you vanished with her!” Dipper’s tone made it clear he was very serious. Steven and Connie stood in the background by the grill, very confused, but equally concerned. 

“...where?” Axe looked around, then pointed West. “...that way. ...we took… a shortcut.”

“A shortcut?” Dipper asked, still a bit irritated.

“Like teleportation?” Connie questioned. “Because you were here then,” she snapped her fingers, “you were gone.”

“...yes.”

“Sounds fun,” Steven said, hoping to lighten the mood. “Was it fun?” he asked Mabel.

She pushed herself out of Dipper’s grasp and extended both of her arms in excitement. “Loads!” She lifted her hand and showed them the picture her camera printed. “Look!” 

It was hardly beginning to show what the picture was meant to be, but as the others leaned in to investigate they could still see as the photo developed the startings of little kittens in their den. 

“Awww... That’s cute!” Steven smiled, looking over to Dipper and hoping he’ll stop being upset. He understood Dipper’s worry, but their new guest had only been trying to do something nice.

Dipper let out a small sigh and sucked in his lips. “Okay then,” he huffed and crossed his arms, accepting his defeat. 

Axe looked between them, his red light glowing, and then his smile fell and the light dimmed. He turned towards the edge of the clearing, quite still, and vanished on the spot. He appeared yards away at the treeline, where Willow was emerging from the woods.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Willow’s soft voice carried over to them while Axe took her arm and brushed her hair out of her face. She rubbed at her eyes and gently took his hand in hers. “Really, it’s fine. I just needed to be alone for a little bit.”

Axe mumbled something to her, but his low tone didn’t carry as well. Willow nodded to him. He gently cupped her face in his hand and pressed his teeth to her lips, nuzzled her cheek affectionately, then led her back over to the group.

While Steven watched from the distance, his brows furrowed with concern. 

“Hey, sorry about that.” Willow flushed pink, aware of all the eyes on her as she rejoined the barbeque. “I just needed a minute. Is there, um, anything I could help with in the kitchen, maybe?”

“No, it’s fine,” Mabel said, trying to reassure her. “We can all just sit and wait while-” she turned and saw her grunkles walking back outside with bags of patties and buns, “-Stev-o here cooks his special personal food.” 

“While the rest of us wait…” Dipper added with an exaggerated sigh. Steven turned, got a head gesture from Stan to join them at the grill, and he promptly left the group with Connie following behind him. 

“It’s okay, Axe, go watch if you want,” Willow said softly to her companion while she sat at the table. Axe turned to her, his brow furrowed.

“...are you sure?”

“I’m upwind over here, right?” Willow asked him. Axe gave her a quick nod. “Then I’ll be fine. Go have fun. Love you.”

Axe nuzzled her cheek again to draw out a smile, mumbling, “...love you, too,” before trotting after Steven towards the grill. 

Even from his distance from the table, Steven could hear Mabel go, “Awwwwww!” Steven smiled, wondering if she was looking at her kitten photo, and was unaware that someone had fallen into step behind him, unnoticed. It was a moment before Steven felt like he was being followed and nonchalantly looked over his shoulder. 

“Oh! Hey Axe, you decided to join us?” Steven asked cheerfully, noticing the skeleton behind him. Connie offered a smile to the other guest before walking to pick up a fold out chair and setting it up by the cooking station. Stan quietly placed everything they would need down by the grill and went back to join his brother at the table with everyone else. 

Axe watched Stan walk away, a curious gleam in his eye light as he examined the group at the table; his gaze lingering for a long moment on Willow. Turning back towards Steven and Connie, Axe quietly nodded to show he would stay. His blue hood slipped a little from the motion and Axe reached up to pull it back down over his brow. He frowned, reached into the folds, and pulled out a handful of pine needles. His red eye light narrowed at the thin, green leaves and he reached back into his hood to dig around.

While Steven laid out his food on the grill, a satisfying sizzle filling the air as the patties touched the hot metal rack, Axe slowly walked around to stand behind Steven with his nasal cavity lifted to catch the shimmering, heated air.

“...those smell better.” Axe said, pointing towards the patties on the grill. “...not like… the others,” he pointed towards the other sealed container Ford had brought out earlier before shoving his hand back into his hood. “...I don’t… like those.”

“Oh these?” Steven lifted one of his patties on the grill with the metal spatula. “These are veggie patties, they’re primarily vegetables and uh…” he looked over at the container they were in “Quinoa? Did you want to try one?” 

Axe nodded, started to reach for a patty on the grill, then seemed to decide against it and reached back into his hood to find more pine needles. “...yes. ...I don’t like… the idea of… eating flesh.” 

Steven focused his gaze on the patties. “Same here…” He looked up at Axe and asked, “If you’d prefer to eat vegetarian, did you want more than one, then?” He walked over to the bag still holding frozen patties and held it up. “How many do you think?” 

The red light in Axe’s socket widened and his vacan grin stretched across his skull. “...I could eat… all of them, but… I know… I need to share.”

“Hmmm...” Steven started counting how many patties he had left inside the bag. “Well… I can give you as many as... 3 patties to 5?” Axe nodded eagerly, pulling his other hand out of his pocket to hold up five skeletal fingers.

“Gotcha,” Steven winked while snapping his fingers into a finger gun, happy to know a fellow vegetarian. He then pulled out 5 patties and placed them on the grill next to the ones he had already set down. He stared at the extra sizzling patties, allowing a question to form in his mind, before continuing the conversation.

“So… that girl, Willow, she said you suspected I wasn’t fully human before we met. ...how could you tell?” 

Axe slowly turned his gaze from the grill, to Steven’s face, and then his red eye light fell to stare at the pink gem on his belly. “...I can hear your soul… so I know… you’re part human, but… I can sense that,” Axe pointed at the gem, “...holds a deep well… of magic. ...humans can’t use the magic… in their souls… but you have powers. ...you can heal... like one of my… little brothers. …and I saw you… lift yourself into… the air. ...humans can’t do that.” Axe looked up at Steven, his skull tilted. “...I thought, maybe… you were half monster.”

Steven took a deep breath before responding. Was he a monster? Maybe it’s best to act like he didn’t hear that. 

“Heh, y’know most people just think it’s a trick, that I’m not floating and such. Like... stage magic? I can get away with quite a bit without suspicion.” Steven shifted his attention back to the grill and flipped a few patties. He then turned his head to check on Connie, who’s silently reading her book, and he gently smiled. Steven glanced back at Axe, who was silently staring again, and realized that if he wanted to have a conversation with the skeleton, then he’s probably going to have to carry it. 

“So, you said your brother heals too? Can he also teleport like you? Or is that just a you thing? Some gems have unique powers while all of us have similar powers.” 

“...same thing… with monsters.’ Axe nodded, his red eye light drifting away from the grill to watch Steven, who had stiffened slightly. Axe tilted his skull, his red light narrowing as he thought. “...only skeletons can teleport, but… healing is… a very rare… ability in general.”

Axe took a step towards Steven, closing the distance between them, and asked quietly, “...did… one of my kind… hurt you?”

Steven’s eyebrows rose only slightly in confusion. “Um... No? Why do you ask that?” To avoid Axe’s unyielding stare, Steven turned his sight back to the almost completed patties.

“...your soul becomes anxious… whenever that word... is said.” Axe gently poked Steven in the middle of his chest. “...like a howling lion. ...there is fear in you.”

Steven looks down at his chest where Axe hat pointed to, then up at Axe for only a second before grabbing a container to put the finished patties in. “Ah… umm… it’s not about m-monsters, I’m sure you’re all great.” Despite his words, a faint pink glow appeared on Steven’s cheeks. 

Axe shrugged, his hand coming up to dig inside of his hood again for pine needles. “...I can tell that… you’re not quite lying… but...” Axe flicked a bundle of needles to the ground, “...I won’t ask.”

The pink tint vanished quickly with Axe dropping the subject and Steven tried shaking off his feeling. Seeking to keep a pleasant atmosphere, he forced a smile on his face “So, our food is done. I’ll go get Stan to cook for everyone else.” 

As Steven turned to leave, he felt cool bone touch his forearm. Axe, having gotten his attention, pointed towards his hood. “...can you… help me? ...there are leaves stuck and… they’re getting in… my scar. ...I don’t want… to let the humans see… since Willow told me… they’ll get uneasy… when they see us.”

“Yeah! I can help you with that” Steven said, with a more genuine smile than before, glad that the attention was off of him. He rubbed his hands on his damp trunks and prepared to help.

“...don’t stick… your fingers in… to far.” Axe said as he lowered his hood, exposing the large, jagged edges of the hole in the top left of his skull. “...it messes… with my mind.”

Steven froze. His whole body started to glow pink and his feet sunk slightly into the ground, causing cracks to spread out and starting to break up the ground under Axe’s feet. Axe’s red light quickly shrank to a pinpoint and he threw his hood back up over his shattered skull.

“...sorry. ...I didn’t think… that you...” Axe mumbled, his gaze falling to the ground, and then he was gone. He reappeared over at the table next to Willow and took a place at her side, sinking into the chair to make himself small.

“Axe, what’s wrong?” Willow asked, immediately putting one of her arms around his shoulders to give him comfort. She looked up, searching for a possible cause, and saw Steven glowing pink. Her eyes went wide. “Oh. Oh wow. Is that… a gem thing?” 

“...I thought,” Axe mumbled shamefully, drawing Willow’s attention back to him, “...it would be okay… since he’s… almost like… a monster, too. ...but he got upset. ...like when you think others… might see yours.”

“It’s okay,” Willow said, her hand reaching under his hood to trace her fingertips across the top of his skull in a comforting motion, and found the last of the pine needles stuck in the fabric. As she pulled them out, she glanced over at Steven and saw that his girlfriend, Connie, was comforting him the same way she now comforted Axe. Willow wondered as she watched Connie hold Steven close, whispering words to him that didn’t carry this far, why Steven would be so upset at seeing Axe’s scar. Most people were just afraid or at the very least unnerved, they didn’t have panic attacks that turned them pink. ...perhaps that last part was just Steven. Turning her attention back to Axe, Willow asked, “Are you okay?”

“...I’m fine.” Axe shrugged. “...I don’t care… what they think of me. ...I just… didn’t want to ruin this… for you.”

“I don’t mean to intrude…” Ford said to Axe and Willow, intruding despite his intention, “I saw what transpired and if it helps… I’m sure it’s not personal.” Ford looked into Axe’s single red eye light. “Steven… he…” Ford hesitated; he didn’t want to overshare. “He’s half gem, and when a gem is shattered, they’re dead,” Ford explained. He looked down at his hands in front of him, resting on the table, then back at the visiting couple. “Maybe...seeing your-” Ford tapped the top of his own head, “-may have reminded him of it”. 

Willow nodded slowly in understanding. Axe looked to her, his eye light flickering with confusion, and she said simply to him, “Steven is like Butch.”

“...oh.” Axe looked back over towards Steven, watching him quietly.

“Normally, when monsters die,” Willow explained to Ford, “they turn to dust, so having any kind of pieces left over is still a strange concept to them. Scars, on the other hand…” Willow shrugged, her hand tightening the black shawl around her shoulders, “I explained to Axe that scars can make humans uneasy, but monsters see them as a source of pride, since whatever wounded them couldn’t turn their bodies to dust and they wear their scars as a badge of survival. Do you think Steven will understand if we explain that to him?”

“I’m sure he would,” Ford nodded, “he’s a very understanding person…” He looked back up at Steven, who was no longer glowing and preparing to come to the table. “But later this evening would be preferable I’m sure.” 

Connie and Steven approached the table, with Connie leading Steven by his hand. “Hey guys,” Connie waved cheerfully. 

“You guys could have started eating, y’know,” Steven joked, hoping no one saw what had happened moments before. 

“It’s okay, it would’ve been rude of us to start without everyone.” Willow smiled shyly at Connie and Steven as she pulled a small bag from inside the front of her lavender dress. Within the bag were a small stack of what looked like white cookies and she took out two to hand to Axe. His nasal ridge crinkled at the sight of them.

“...I don’t… like those.” Axe growled, taking the cookies from Willow and glaring at them. “...they taste… awful.”

“You know you have to eat them,” Willow smiled softly and tucked the cookies away again, “you need the magic. I never imagined I’d find something you wouldn’t eat. And I’ve seen you eat garbage!”

“...garbage tastes better… than this crap.” Axe popped the white cookies behind his teeth and visibly shuddered. “...it’s like… bad milk and… rancid lemon.”

Steven watched, cursious, as he assembled a veggie burger. He placed it on a plate and handed it over to Axe. “Hope this helps,” He said with a gentle smile. 

Axe eagerly grabbed the burger and had half of it in his mouth before he slowly pulled it back out. His red light stared at it for a moment, then looked up to Steven. “...thanks. ...I know… I make people… uncomfortable… without meaning to, so… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Steven said as he assembled a second burger and handed it to Axe. “It’s not your fault,” he added, giving Axe an apologetic smile. “I was weird around humans at first, too.”

As Steven made a third, and fourth, burger to hand over to Axe, Willow narrowed her green eyes and her hand paused with a spoonful of potato salad over the plate she was making. She asked Steven, “How many did you tell him he could eat?”

Steven paused in the middle of a fifth burger. “Uh….five. Is that… is that not okay?”

“Axe!” Willow snapped, glaring at Axe; who quickly shoved any food in front of him into his mouth. “That was rude! You know human food does nothing for you, and then you make our hosts do more work!”

“...he said-” Axe mumbled, but Willow was having none of it.

“You know better!” She smacked him on the skull with the potato salad spoon, leaving a glob of it behind on his hood. “I hope you know this means you’re on cleanup duty!”

“Hey hey, no worries!” Steven interrupted, putting both his hands up. “It’s okay, when I used to live in a van with my dad, I used to hope people would be generous with food, so I don’t mind. If he can eat it and it’s not going to waste, it’s fine,” he ended with a smile, hoping Willow would stop being upset with Axe. 

“I don’t mind him eating what’s offered,” Willow sighed and poked at her food with a plastic fork, “I’m glad he doesn’t have to worry about going hungry. I just know it can be hard for him to control himself with food unless he’s reminded of his rules. He’d eat this whole table if you covered it with frosting and let him at it.”

“...can I have that?” Axe asked Dipper, pointing towards his empty paper plate with some ketchup still on it.

“Um… okay,” Dipper responded hesitantly, handing over his plate. Axe rolled it up and shoved the whole thing into the void behind his jaws, his eye light searching the rest of the table for more stray things he could ask for. Dipper was baffled; he didn’t know how to respond to what he just saw.

Steven handed Axe his last burger. “Here, I did make you five after all.” Steven was half way through his own meal, but he didn’t mind being a bit behind everyone else. It seemed all too familiar to Connie that Steven would be so generous. Mabel was glancing around the table, seeing what she could give Axe, because him eating literally anything with food on it was slightly amusing to her. 

Axe leaned over the table, silently asking Stan if he could have the bowl of fruit salad in front of him by pointing at it. Stan squinted his eyes, grabbed a plate, got a big spoonful and plopped it onto the plate. He handed it over to Axe with a grumbling, “I still want to eat some, too.” 

“...you have some.” Axe grinned mischievously, pulling the bowl out from beneath Stan. Willow gasped in horror and jumped on Axe and the bowl.

“Axe, no!” Willow growled, wrestling with him for the bowl. Her black shawl slowly slipped as they struggled and fell under the table. “That’s rude as hell and you know it! We’re not at home and you can’t play tricks like that on people!”

Stan lets out a low crunchy laugh, causing Ford to look at his brother with a raised brow. Stan explained, “I used to do that all the time, good one!” He grabbed the whole bowl and planted the plate in front of Axe. “Yer still only getting one serving though,” he said with a devilish grin. 

“...what’s a serving?” Axe asked, dumping the entire plate Stan had given to him into his mouth. Willow rolled her eyes and sighed. An exasperated, but affectionate, look crept onto her face as she watched Axe. She leaned her right elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand, unaware that her shawl had fallen away and that the band of angry, red scars across the top of her arm was now exposed.

Ford glanced over and saw the severe burn scars on Willow. He then looked down at his own arms that were covered in his long sleeves. He stood up, handed his plate to Axe (which was eaten immediately), and walked back into the house. Steven watched as Ford walked away, then back over at Willow and, seeing the scaring, his cheeks dimly glow pink. He chose not to say anything and looked back down at his food. Dipper, Mabel, and Stan are deep in conversation, that was about anything but serious topics, and did not notice. It was like they were riffing off each other. 

“Jeez, hold still you clod,” Willow grabbed a napkin and got onto her knees, to do her best to wipe away the potato salad still on the top of Axe’s hood. He stilled, his vacant grin widening as he then wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her stomach. They teetered together, Willow’s arms waving to try and keep balance, and then they fell backwards together onto the lawn. 

“...not bragging… if no other betas… are here.” Axe laughed, seeing Willow’s pink face as she laid on top of him. It flushed all the way to red and she sat up, her fingers searching for her shawl to cover the scars across her back and shoulder, and her face paled as she realized its absence.

Everyone was watching, but their expressions appeared more awkward than anything else. Their eyes were darting between the couple and it was silent until Stan stated, “Well… that was awkward.” 

Mabel corrected him, “That was  _ cute. _ ” 

Dipper focused on the scars across Willow’s back, but said nothing. Connie being a daughter of a doctor, was thinking of possible burn scar healing solutions. Steven, who was no longer glowing and sensing WIllow’s discomfort, offered them a hand, “Need help?” 

Willow’s gaze fell to the ground, her cheeks burning with embarrassment, and wrapped her hands around herself. She seemed to shrink in on herself, and it was Axe who took Steven’s hand and let him haul himself and Willow to their feet. With a short glance and a nod of thanks towards Steven, Axe pulled off his blue hoodie, draped it over Willow’s shoulders, and brought up one of his hands to try and cover the hole in his skull.

A quick glance around the chatty table made Willow feel like no one had seen her scars. Feeling relieved, she offered Steven and Axe a small, shy smile. “Thanks…”

“No problem,” Steven said with a nod, then turned his attention to Axe and gestured towards his skull. “Hey, it’s fine Axe, I just.. wasn’t prepared before, dont worry about it.” He offered a soft smile, in hopes of reassuring the skeleton. 

Axe returned the smile and took his hand away from his skull as he and Willow resumed their seats. “...I like… the color of your magic… a lot. ...does your kind… normally not have scent… when they use their magic?”

“Heh, thanks, and no, no scents, but I think that has to do with the fact that Gems are just… gems? And our bodies are just light projections with mass.” He paused, then laughed, “Well, all gems except me, at least, since I’m half human.” 

“...light?” Axe scratched at his white t-shirt, deep in thought. “...so, gems are… kind of like us. ...monsters are made of... magic.” To show what he meant, Axe held up his hand and allowed a trickle of red plasma to gather in his palm, like brightly colored smoke that smelled like iron. “...can you summon, too?”

“Uh yeah…” Steven nodded as he looked at the remaining Pines family and Connie picking up the food and bringing it inside. He stood up and backed away from the table. “Mostly defensive,” He summoned a pink, circular shield with small diamonds on the rim and a star in the center onto his arm and handed it over to Axe. 

“...I could tell… you had some LOVE,” Axe said slowly, impressed, as he turned the shield over in his hands and examined it, “...but you have… more than I thought… to summon your weapon… on command.” He held one of his hands up, letting red plasma gather and solidify into a bone. Axe snatched it out of the air and handed it to Steven. “...I can only… do regular summons… without that kind… of intent.”

“Um… I’m not sure what you mean by that, but I first summoned my shield from eating ice cream… so I’m not sure my intent has any kind of effect.” Steven examined the bone Axe had handed him and said, “Cool,” as he handed it back. “Would it be rude… to say I can summon more than just a shield?” He asked as he looked up at Willow, not sure how Axe would respond. 

“...no. ...you and I are... similar, not… the same. ...even my brothers… have different abilities… and we’re related.” Axe shook his skull and, with a flick of his hand, the red bone melted into plasma and drifted away. “...LOVE means… ‘level of violence’. ...it’s what is gained… when you fight.”

“Oh….” Steven paused, looked at Axe’s hands, then his own. “I see… Well… would you like to see some more?” Steven asked, hoping to heighten the mood. Axe nodded, his skeletal hands twirling the shield around to test its weight, his grin widening in obvious enjoyment.

“...I’m… kind of jealous… of you, Steven.” Axe mumbled quietly, his eye light examining the shield once again as his smile fell. “...when I… summon my weapon… I….” He let the sentence drift off and tossed the shield back to Steven. “...it’s only… as a last resort so you’ll… never see it, anyway. ...but I’d like to see… your other summons.”

Steven felt the shift in emotions, but decided not to ask about it. “Are either of you... by any chance… claustrophobic?” he asked, his hand tracing the edge of his shield and a brow raised. 

Axe shook his skull. He looked to Willow, who was still daydreaming, and poked her in the arm with a swiftly summoned red bone. She gave a small start and quietly listened as Axe repeated Steven’s question.

“Oh, not really?” Willow said, confused, as she finally noticed Steven’s shield and studied it curiously. “I don’t mind small spaces, it’s being pinned by objects that I don’t like.”

Steven briefly felt pain as he thought of pinning down Jasper and shattering her, and then he tried shaking the feeling away. Jasper forgave him. “Did you... want to see it?” he asked, offering his shield. 

“Sure!” Willow smiled, rising from the bench to come closer to Axe and Steven. She gingerly took the shield in her hands, examining the diamond design on the front as she traced her finger over the ridges and grooves. “This is really cool. Is it made out of plasma?”

“...light.” Axe answered.

Steven huffed out a small laugh and proceeded his demonstration. “I can also do this,” he formed a pink bubble floating above his hand and tossed it over to Axe. “We usually use it to hold items, and we can tap the top and send them off.” He formed another bubble to tap it and send it away. 

“Where did you send it to?” Willow asked, catching the pink bubble Axe tossed to her to turn over in her hands.

“I sent that one to my room, but I can send it to my family or my aunts… and I can also do this,” and he formed a pink bubble over his fists. It switched from a soft, round bubble shape to a bubble with spikes to a box. He opened his hand and popped the bubble, and asked either for a hand, holding out his own. 

Axe and Willow looked to each other. Axe shrugged and nodded his skull towards Steven. Tightening her shawl nervously, Willow took Steven’s hand. He formed a big bubble around her hand, and looked at her, waiting to see what she thought.

“Oh, wow!” Willow looked through the pink bubble and touched her hand to it and her eyes widened in surprise to feel the plexiglass-like texture. “This is so neat! Are all of your summons bubbles like this? I saw you change the shape, but…?”

“Well… like I said… It's mostly defensive. It’s supposed to protect you.” Steven smiled then made a small gesture and the bubble on her hand shimmered into nothingness. “Here's the last one… It could work in… pretty much all situations. To protect from the vastness of space, or underwater… against fire and smoke or… dangerous enemies.” He lifted his hand to becken Axe to stand next to Willow. 

“It’s fire-proof?” Willow asked, her green eyes shining with admiration. Axe trotted over to her side, his red lights slightly narrowed at Steven.

“Yeah, when I was a kid it used to not be, but I’ve gotten better at how these things work.” Steven paused and took a small step back. “So… just so you know... you are not going to run out of air. You should be fine.” At their nods of understanding, he lifted a hand and formed a large pink bubble around the couple. 

“You guys are so lucky,” Willow sighed enviously, both of her hands on the wall of the giant bubble. “I wish  _ I _ could do magic. Summon things and teleport and make fire-proof bubbles…”

Steven sucked the insides of his cheeks and thought for a second. That wish… was full of pain. “Well… if it makes you feel better, all my powers came from my mom, who was a tyrant who attempted to colonize Earth…” his voice lowered as he said, “and left me with all of her problems…” he started to glow pink, but hoped they had not noticed due to the pink hue of the bubble. 

Axe and Willow exchanged a look. Willow took a small step towards Steven, her hand up as a silent request to touch him despite the bubble, and said gently, “Sometimes, our worst experiences can be turned into blessings. Maybe your mom was a tyrant, but you inherited her powers. You said it yourself that they’re used for defense. Isn’t that something to be grateful for? The ability to protect those you care about?”

Steven’s gaze went to the house, hoping someone would come out, one of the Pines, or that Connie would come and hold him. His emotions were whirling inside of him and he spoke low. “My summons are defensive… but all my other powers are… well… destructive. Very destructive...”

Steven avoided Willow’s eyes. He was starting to fill with the fear and dread of accidentally hurting those he loves. The bubble around the two popped, removing the small barrier he had created between them. Steven fell onto his knees.

Axe slowly approached Steven and the stare of his red light was unyielding. “...do you… want to know why… I don’t summon my weapon?”

Steven’s eyes went up to meet Axe’s single eye light, “why..?” 

“...because the entire point… of my kind’s magic… is destruction. ...there are few exceptions.” A bony finger gently poked Steven’s chest. “...and I know that feeling… too well.” Axe looked to Willow, his voice barely above a whisper, “...he can know. ...tell him.”

Willow slowly nodded and studied Steven’s anxious expression. “Axe and his little brother, Butch, used to live in a really bad part of the Underground. They struggled to survive and Axe… he did terrible things to keep them alive. Please, understand that there was no other choice left,” she put a gentle hand on Steven’s shoulder. “Axe’s magic might be inherently destructive, but he used it to protect his brother at all costs. One of those costs…” 

She glanced again to Axe, who nodded for her to continue.

“There’s a thing among monsters called turning ‘Feral’.” Willow explained sadly. “When they’re starving, their soul will turn on them and erase their sense of self completely. They have no remorse, no memory, and no sense of right and wrong. Axe and Butch were almost at that point, then Axe made a choice. They… ate the souls of their fellow monsters to survive. Now Axe, since his EXP is so high, that means execution points, he loses himself when he succumbs to killing intent. He can only summon his weapon when he feels that, and he will only summon his weapon to defend his loved ones, but…”

“...I’m a danger… to them, too.” Axe hung his skull shamefully and his eye light rested on Willow. “...I don’t know myself... well enough when… I’m like that. ...it’s like… being on the edge… again. ...being almost Feral.”

“The point of this,” Willow said gently, slowly drawing Steven into her arms, “Is that even if you have destructive powers, they can save the lives of the ones you love. And even if you’re scared of hurting them, that won’t stop them from loving you and accepting your faults. I don’t love Axe any less because he’s hurt me, I know he never meant it. He knows he has my complete trust and acceptance.” 

Steven sat there with her arms wrapped around him, but he didn't move to hug her back. Everything she just said hit him.  _ ‘There are people who are suffering to that point? And the gems have literally done nothing about it? Do they know? They ate each other?’ _ His mind was a hurricane. Before he even knew what was happening, he was growing into his diamond form. 

Willow’s grip tightened to keep her from sliding off onto the ground as Steven’s height grew. She glanced at Axe, who had lowered himself into a ready stance and already had red plasma dripping from his skeletal fingers. She shook her head and turned back to Steven. There was pain in his expression, a readable frustration in his crinkled brow.

“ _ I know your voice, I know your face,”  _ Willow started to softly sing, staring into the white diamond pupils of Steven’s eyes; into the soft pink of his irises. She was hoping that if gems and monsters were similar enough, then music might calm Steven the same way it calmed Axe. “ _ This is something I cannot replace. Give me hope and give me doubt, cause we’re a long way from home.” _

Willow clung to Steven’s neck with one arm, trying to free the other to rub his back and comfort him. He still seemed tense and, as Willow felt the marred skin on his back beneath her fingertips, she felt a wave of empathy as she glanced down and saw the giant scar there. _ “Now is there anything I can do? If there was, we would be saying, cause you’re a part of me and I’m a part of you.” _

Steven looked into her green eyes, then down at his hands. “Sorry…” he rotated his shoulders in hopes of getting her off of him. Willow only tightened her grip.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her gentle voice filled with concern. His body literally swelled to an alarming size to get her off of him and shrank back down. Axe teleported in and caught her before she hit the ground, then they’re both gone in an instant. They reappeared next to the Shack, where Axe shoved Willow inside before turning to face Steven. 

Steven is now sitting on the ground, his knees bent up, and his face in his hands. His emotions are overwhelming him.

Inside the Shack, the back door hit the wall with a loud bang! from Axe kicking it in. He threw Willow onto the floor between the family of Pines, then pulled the door shut.

“Axe!” Willow scrambled across the floor, her black shawl fluttering to the side, as she tried to pull open the door. “Dammit, Axe, let me out!”

“What happened?” Stan asked.

“Where’s Steven?” Connie asked, panic in her voice.

“He and Axe were talking about their powers,” Willow explained quickly, getting to her feet, “and Steven got upset. He started glowing pink and getting taller and then Axe threw me in here-”

“What?” Connie practically shouted, and ran to the door. However, as soon as her hand touched the knob, the whole house shook. She swung the door open and ran right past Axe, straight to Steven, who was curled up in a ball hugging his knees. Sobbing. 

“Steven…” She said as she slid into the crater that surrounded Steven. Willow followed Connie outside, but she went to Axe instead.

Connie reached a hand out and touched Steven gently. “Steven…” He lifted his head and looked at her. 

“Connie…?” his voice broke when he spoke. 

“I’m here for you Steven…” She said as she sat down on the ground in front of him, looking into his eyes. “You don’t have to deal with all these emotions by yourself…” she placed her hand out halfway towards him, waiting for him to take it. After a few moments he placed his hand on hers. 

Over by the door, the Pines family was slowly untangling themselves from the mess they had made. In their rush to get outside, they had all tried to fit in the door at once. Willow, who had been holding Axe tightly, held out a hand and grabbed the first hand she saw and pulled them loose.

“Connie went-” she began to say, but her words fell short as her mouth hung open in surprise. A bright light flashed from the crater and a single person was climbing out of it; one she hadn’t seen before here at the Mystery Shack. Axe squeezed her tightly, a low growl vibrating his rib cage.

The new person was walking towards the shack, their arms wrapped around their torso. Soothing themself. They were tall, with bushy brown hair and tanned skin.

Ford, who had been in the back of the group, makes his way to the front. His attire had changed since lunch, he was now wearing a dark short sleeve button down shirt , with a little drawing labeled ‘The Jersey Devil’. His arms are covered in scars and tattoos, with some tattoos missing pieces due to scarring. 

“Stevonnie?” He gently croaked out. 

The person’s gaze lifts to Ford then the group. “Hey guys… sorry to intrude, I just.. HAD to be here, y’know?” they said with a slightly forced chuckle. 

“No worries, it’s nice seeing you again.” Ford said, bowing his head a small bit. 

Willow’s eyes narrowed, spotting the pink gem on their stomach, and her arms nervously tightened around Axe. “...Steven?”

They shifted their gaze to Willow. “Not quite, but close,” they said, then extended their hand out in a friendly way. “I’m Stevonnie”, they offered a small smile. “I’m uh… Steven AND Connie.”

While Willow shook their hand, a confused look on her face, Axe asked, “...is that why… you have two souls?” 

“Yeah? I guess so,” they said, a brow raised. 

“I still don’t understand…” Willow asked, her brow furrowed as she tried to reason out what she was seeing, “How can two people… turn into one?”

Stevonnie held their hands together in front of themself. “Well it’s.. a gem thing…” They paused and looked at Ford, in the hopes he could explain. 

Ford cleared his throat and took initiative. “Since gems are holograms with mass made from projections of their gem, they can fuse those projections together to make one person in an act they call fusion. Since Steven is a hybrid he is capable of fusing with other gems and other humans. However, since it involves other people, fusion consists of consent, trust, and understanding…” Ford ends shyly, looking at Stevonnie, hoping he explained it correctly. Despite having fused with Steven, he still didn’t fully understand much of it past his explanation. 

Axe started to chuckle uncontrollably, his smile stretched and a red flush just starting to appear on his cheekbones. He whispered into Willow's ear, "...that's how, heh… gems claim? ….heheheheh…"

"Axe!" Willow hissed, elbowing him in the ribs, her own face flushed red with embarrassment.

"...what? ...two people… came together… and made a new one." Axe let go of Willow, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and eyed Stevonnie with his red light. "...Connie is… Steven's alpha, right? ...it's good she… took care of her beta… when he needed it."

A blush appeared on Stevonnie’s face, followed by a bright light. Suddenly Steven and Connie were standing together, holding hands. Steven covered his face with his free hand, while Connie started laughing uncontrollably. 

“I’ll just go back to my hole now…” Steven said, trying to turn around, but Connie’s hand stopped him. 

“It’s not like claiming,” Connie clarified with a laugh. “It’s a relationship, sure, but it’s not limited to a single kind. It can be like a parent/child relationship, a romantic relationship, or a friendship kind of relationship… like um.. he’s fused with his moms… his dad… “ she paused in thought then looked up, “and Ford, too.” She gestured to the six fingered man who awkwardly raised a hand.

Axe and Willow looked over to Ford, curious. Willow's eyes immediately darted towards his arms and the scars covering them. She turned pink and looked away, her fingers pulling her shawl tight around her shoulders. Axe merely tilted his skull at them, then looked back towards Connie.

"...fusion seems… okay." Axe said, grinning and nuzzling Willow's reddening cheeks, "...but I'll stick… to the fun way…. with just… my alpha."

Mabel covered her ears and Stan poked Axe with his elbow. “I totally get what you mean,” he said with a gravelly laugh. Axe elbowed him back, his tumbling chuckle returning.

“Stanley…” Ford pleaded, exasperated. 

Connie turned back to Steven and placed her hands on his shoulders. “Are you sure you’ll be fine? I can call and tell them I can’t make it today.” 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, I’ll call you tonight,” Steven responded, and Connie pulled out her phone to make a call. A portal soon formed, floating above the ground, and a large pink lion ran out of it; its eyes glowing as its feet touched the ground. 

Willow, who's eyes were round at the sight of the portal and the sudden appearance of the lion, got very excited. "Oh  _ wow _ ! I didn't know that gems could summon  _ animals!  _ Is this made of your magic's light, too, Steven?"

“Um.... no, not technically. This is my Lion, his name is… Lion.” Steven got a little embarrassed from his lack of creativity as a child. 

A small giggle of appreciation escaped Willow. "I think it's cute."

Connie quickly gave Steven a kiss on the lips and ran towards Lion. She jumped on his back and waved, “Bye guys! Thanks for having me!” Lion then roared, summoning a portal and jumping through. 

Steven looked where Connie and Lion once were and then turned to Willow. “He is magic though. My mom made him the way he is.” He offered a gentle smile with his short explanation.

Willow offered a small smile back and fidgeted with her black shawl while she hung back and allowed the group to begin shuffling back inside. "I'm glad… that you have something from your mom that you seem to really like."

Her gaze fell to the dirt and she hesitated at the door with Steven. The fidgeting with her shawl worsened as she debated with herself on what to say; she didn't want to make Steven upset again. Her voice was a low whisper as she said, "I'm glad that you seem like you're doing better now. We're sorry for anything we might've said that upset you earlier, that wasn't our intent, and Axe…" she glanced at Axe as he lingered outside, to investigate the place Lion and Connie disappeared, and her green eyes watered. "He meant well, with wanting me to tell you that. He's a really good person and I think he just wanted to show you that he understands more about hardship than he's able to express. Please don't think less of him because of his past. He carries a lot of remorse for what he had to do."

Willow darted inside after the Pines family, her cheeks pink with embarrassment as she avoided Steven's gaze. Axe, his red light watching her, then turned towards Steven. 

"...I'll be back… soon." Axe said quietly and vanished, leaving only the smell of iron behind.

Steven’s hand covered his face and he looked around the porch, realizing he was left alone. He sighed heavily before going back into the house, where he was promptly approached by Ford. 

“Is everything alright?” Ford asked, placing a hand on Steven’s shoulder. 

“Yeah… well… no. It’s complicated. I’m better than before at least.” Steven looked at Ford’s arms for a second then looked around the room. “Do you know where Willow went?” 

“I think I heard someone walk around in the shop?” Ford started, a brow raised, then looked around the room. “That was probably her, considering we’re all here...unless it’s Gompers.” 

“Do you think… you could come with me?” Steven asked, glancing over to the door that led to the shop. 

Ford studied Steven’s pained expression. “I can accompany you, but I don’t want to intrude if you need to speak with her.” 

“Thanks…” Steven said before the two of them walked over to the shop. 

“Willow?” Steven asked quietly, Ford standing next to him. They heard her sniffles before they saw her. She was seated on the same chair she had used when her ankle was hurt and she was wiping at her face as she turned a replica of a hawktopus over in her hands.

“If you ever want to see one of those, hiking up the falls is your best bet,” Ford said and stepped forward, hoping to relax Steven enough to finish approaching her. 

Willow gave Ford a small, wet smile. "I'd like that. I haven't met any surface monsters before." She glanced shyly at Ford's scars, a pink flush filling her face again. "...they must really respect you. The monsters here, I mean."

Ford glanced down at his arms then back to her. “Well sure, the monsters here respect me,” he responded feeling slightly confused about why she would think that without any context. “But I’m sure that’s because we saved them from a demon a few years back.” 

Willow glanced at Ford out of the side of her eye and spoke to him, since she had yet to notice Steven. "Demon?"

“Yes, a demon…” Ford paused and pondered if it was worth explaining. “He was from a different dimension. He destroyed his own and wanted to take over this one.” Ford glanced over at Steven, hoping he was still doing okay. Steven nodded, showing he was fine. 

"Oh," Willow looked back at the hawktopus in her hands, unsure of what to say. She mumbled quietly, "I guess… I'll add that to the list of things to admire about you. Defeating a demon."

“Well thank you, my dear,” Ford approached her and extended a hand to her. “Would you like to join us in the house? Steven here wanted to speak with you,” he ended with a reassuring smile. 

Willow nodded and gently took Ford's hand, her curious gaze lingering for a few moments on his sixth finger before drifting back to the scars on his arms. Her cheeks flushed pink again, but she let Ford help her to her feet. 

"Axe didn't upset you again, did he?" Willow asked Steven, avoiding his gaze while she stared at the floor.

“No, he actually went poof,” he said, quickly shooting his hands apart, sending shimmers into the air. “I just wanted to talk… if that’s okay?” 

Ford turned to Steven. “If you prefer, you two could stay and talk in here? Steven, you could just get the chair from behind the counter or you could sit on the bench on the front porch?”

“Right” Steven nodded at Ford, then turned his attention back to Willow “...so?” He asked, leaving the question hanging in the air. She nodded and slowly sank back into her seat. Ford quietly left the two of them alone.

Steven walked across the room and grabbed a shirt with a question mark on it that was stuffed behind the counter and pulled it over his head to cover his bare chest. He then grabbed the chair and carried it over to sit next to Willow. 

“Look… Willow....” He hesitated, staring down at his hands, then his gaze attempted to meet hers. “It’s not about what you… I don’t think any less of Axe or you or… monsters. I’m not…” he paused and looked at the Hawktopus replica she had been fumbling with. “I was once… corrupted… sort of a… gem equivalent to Feral I suppose... “ He brought a hand to his chin in thought, then placed it back down. “I lost myself. I wasn’t me… I turned into a giant monster and... I hurt my family. I just… I get it. I understand Axe…” he paused in thought, there was more he wanted to say but he wanted her to respond before he continued. 

"...you're afraid it'll happen again, aren't you?" Willow asked softly, her green eyes holding his gaze.

Steven’s eyes shimmed pink for only a second before he answered softly, “...terrified.” He then shifted his gaze back down to his hands. “I know it probably won’t if I don’t bottle everything up again,” he ended with a sad chuckle. 

Willow slowly nodded, her hand coming up to hold her shawl together over her chest as she thought. "May I ask…" she said slowly, after a long moment, "how it happened? The corruption?"

He looked up at her, both of his eyes glowing pink, with white diamond pupils. He let out a heavy sigh before responding. “Well… for most gems...they corrupted from a diamond blast thousands of years ago. The diamonds believed that it killed all of them, but all it did was destroy their mind… their sense of self. For gems, our physical forms represent our inner self, or at least that’s what Garnet told me… so when they have no sense of self they’re body becomes… chaotic. Most gems that were corrupted by the diamonds… besides…” he mumbled something that Willow couldn’t make out, “and myself… mostly it’s from losing yourself…your mental state declines… self destructive behaviors… or uh...similar behaviors people express when they lose their mind.” 

"But you came back from it, didn't you?" Willow asked. "I know that many not seem like something to be grateful for, but getting through something like that couldn't have been easy. You gems are lucky. Once a monster turns Feral, they're lost forever. It's kinder to turn them to dust." Willow matched Steven's heavy sigh. "I… can tell you've been through some big things and you've already had to carry more than you ever should have and you're the same age I was when…"

Her words drifted off and Willow wiped at her eyes with her black shawl. "There's a monster philosophy I'm still getting used to. When things happen to us, terrible things that give us scars and mark us for life as a reminder… they wear them proudly. They show them off and brag that they survived. That they're tougher than what life threw at them and they've told me that those scars can also be… be beautiful."

Steven’s eyes were back to the greenish-brown hazel they normally were and he looked into her eyes. “Yeah, they can be.” His gaze slightly shifted to her shoulders then back at her eyes. “I know it’s probably not my place to say… but…” he was rethinking his next words, hoping it wasn’t too touchy, “I know… you saw my scar… and that’s the only one that won’t go away. Well, at least...when I’m a Pink and such… but um… I saw yours too…” he ended shyly, hoping he wasn’t overstepping. “You don’t have to cover them here, this family is… very accepting,” he ended with a gentle smile. 

Willow's face flushed red and she picked at her shawl. "Th-thanks, but… I'm still sensitive about them. Maybe I might take off my shawl but… but that's it. I don't like people looking at my legs. Axe hasn't even seen them and he's my beta." She hesitated, then mumbled, "Thanks for not saying anything. I want to be brave about them, like that Ford guy, I just… can't. I can if I really trust someone, so I would be okay with say, you seeing my shoulder and maybe even my back, but that's it."

Steven thought for a second. He’s heard Axe and Willow say ‘beta’ many times, but he literally has no idea what they could be talking about. However, there was some relief in her words. “Well, you don’t have to show your legs. You don’t HAVE to do anything, I just thought I’d tell you... just in case you feel comfortable enough later on...or the temperature is too hot or something. I just want you to feel comfortable that’s all.” He looked out the window and then quickly said, “Well unless that’s too much, because I totally get it, considering you just met us yesterday.” 

Willow smiled softly. "You guys accepted Axe and welcomed him despite his shape and scar. Not any humans would do that for a monster, especially as one as odd as him. As far as I'm concerned, you're all good people and I trust you."

“Oh. Nice.” Steven smiled and looked back at her, then his smile slowly dropped. “And um… sorry… for making you deal with all that stuff with me. It’s a lot… you...uhm... want to go outside for a minute? I can show you something cool?” 

"Don't worry about it!" Willow laughed, a bright noise like the twittering of birds, and got to her feet. She offered a hand to Steven and said, "Trust me, I deal with things like that all the time at home at Lane 66. If you're living with 8 monster guys, things happen. What did you want to show me?"

Steven had a brow raised since she said he deals with stuff like this often, but his expression relaxed. “The city.” He smiled and took her hand and stood on his feet letting go of her hand as soon as he was balanced. “Bird’s eye view. If that’s okay?”

Willow paled slightly. "I… I don't really like heights, but… you won't let me fall, will you?" She slid the shawl from her shoulder and tied it to the door. To the look Steven gave her, she explained, "Axe will be able to tell if I leave and I don't want him to worry."

“I’d never let you fall,” Steven said with a smile, “and we’ll be right outside the shack.” He raised his hands with his shrug. “If we see him, we’ll just go to him… unless you don’t want to? You don’t have to, I just thought you’d like it.” 

"How many times in my life will I get a chance to fly?" Willow led the way outside, her hand on her hip. "Outside of a plane, I mean."

“Planes are fun,” Steven said with a smile, “My first and probably last time in a plane, I went to Korea with my dad...he  _ was  _ kidnapped by my aunt there...but everythings fine now. You ready to go now?” he offered as he walked out the shop entrance, standing right outside the door. Willow nodded eagerly. Steven stood out in the open clearing in front of the shack, close to the totem pole and added, “There is something I could try, but I rather not try too high up.” 

"What's that?" 

Steven closed his eyes and focused. His whole body started to glow pink and he looked back up at Willow’s startled expression. “Don’t worry, I meant for this to happen,” he explained before she could worry. “Are you ready?” 

"How, um…" Willow scratched the back of her head. "Should I hold onto you?"

Steven bent his arm so she could hook on, “Just here, for… reassurance.” Willow took his arm, squeezing a bit tighter than probably necessary, and nodded. He closed his eyes and focused one more time before her entire body was covered in a pink glow. “Now you can fly, too!” He smiled brightly. “Though flying is a bit complicated… so that’s what my arm is for.” 

Willow nodded again, her brow furrowed in confusion as her anxiety about heights melted away under a wave of love and comfort. She sniffed at the air, then at Steven. "...huh I was… kind of expecting to smell brown sugar… nevermind," she added quickly, flushing beneath the pink glow. "Let's just do this. The last time I had this much magic around me I got really weird."

Steven’s brows scrunched in confusion, then he jumped up into the air about 500 feet off the ground, gently pulling Willow through the air behind him. When he stopped their ascent he looked at Willow, waiting to see what she thought. Her face had a combined expression of fear and delight, her green eyes wide open and eagerly absorbing everything she could see.

"I'll say it again," she sighed as she looked out over the vast pine forest, "I really wish I could do magic."

“Well you have some magic right now, if you feel confident enough to let go, you can fly, y’know?”

“Is it like a ‘happy thoughts’ thing that keeps me up here?” Willow asked and looked down, unable to stop the swooping feeling in her stomach. “I don’t think I could keep that up on my own.”

“No happy thoughts needed, I’m controlling it, I can assure you, you will be fine,” he smiled at her.

Willow nodded and, ever so slowly, let go of Steven’s arm. A small chuckle started in her throat, which built up into a hysterical laughter. “I’m Mary Poppins, y’all!” She whooped, throwing her fists up in the air and falling into another fit of laughter as she drifted slightly on the breeze, the bell of her lavender dress whipping around her legs like a flag.

“So I take it, you’re not hating this?” Steven asked as a small low chuckle came out of him. He was happy that she was feeling better, his happiness leading to the two of them to slowly drift higher into the sky. 

“I love this, I feel like a bird!” Willow looked down, noticed that the ground was steadily getting further away, and paled. “Um, maybe not so high though, I like being able to still see faces down below.”

“Oh… right…” he said as he looked down and they started to slowly float down. “Sorry, when I get happy I kinda go-” and he pointed up to the sky.

“Are your other powers affected by your emotions?” Willow asked, letting herself drift slowly around Steven. “I know that Axe and his brothers can have reactions with their magic when they feel something strongly. For example, if they’re angry, they’ll leak plasma.”

“Yeah, my emotions affect my powers to an extent. They can also be effected by other people’s emotions.” Steven looked down at the ground and stopped their descent. “One of my moms once explained it as empathic powers… I can connect to people or animals or… my creations?” His face scrunched at that description “I can also go into other people’s minds. I can show them my thoughts or they can show me theirs. I can see people’s dreams… enter other people’s body’s…..” he looked down to make sure they were not speeding up or falling down, but they just gently drifted down more. He’d be more worried if this was Dipper. “Sorry,” he said as he looked back over at Willow. “I’m not sure why I told you all that” 

“Why are you sorry?” Willow asked gently as she and Steven landed once more on the ground and the pink glow faded from her skin. “Magic itself is nothing to be scared of, only the intent behind the one who wields it. You’re a good person, Steven. You’re incredibly powerful, but you’re very kind. I could feel that when your magic was on me.”

Steven raised his brows and hummed in thought. “ I guess that makes sense… When I’d possess people by accident, it’ll be because I was worrying about them before falling asleep….” His brows furrowed at the thought. 

“You’re an empath, so your magic reacts to your worry and reaches out for you in an attempt to ease the negative emotion.” Willow nodded, her gaze thoughtful as she looked up at the sky, to where she and Steven had just been flying. She didn’t know if knowing about monster magic would help Steven understand himself, but she wanted to offer the information if it could. “Monster magic will also act independently of its wielder in an attempt to compensate for things an individual lacks or deeply desires.”

Steven sat silently, absorbing everything she said then finally commented, “Are you a doctor like Ford or something? Because that was pretty insightful.” He smiled but his brows were turned up in the middle. “You sound like my therapist, but with more….cryptic knowledge.” Steven immediately worried if he used that word correctly.

“I’m a psychologist.” Willow nodded, “just… not really for people at the moment. I mostly help Axe and his family with their various problems. Since they’re all monsters, well...” she shrugged, as if that explained everything. “I just want to help if I can.”

“That makes sense for you to be that…. and I appreciate the help.” Steven smiled gently before continuing, “speaking of Axe and his family...I wonder where he went….”

“He shouldn’t be gone long.” Willow shrugged again. “He’s probably scouting the area to make sure it’s safe. Back home, he’d disappear into the woods all day and- eeep!”

Willow almost fell to the ground, having just been tackled by Axe. He had his arms around her waist and giggled uncontrollably while she flushed red at his sudden touch.

“...you’re so…” Axe chuckled into her ear, “...easy to sneak… up on.”

“I’m glad you’re having fun, you clod!” Willow snapped and smacked at the dirt covering the sleeves of his blue hoodie. “And what the  _ hell _ have you been doing?”

Axe, still laughing to himself, pulled a small rock the size of an apple out of the pocket of his hoodie. He held it out to Steven, presenting the flat side, and showed him what appeared to be a fossilized fern. “...finding this… for him. ….it was… in the cliff... by the kittens… so I couldn’t… use magic to get it…. or I’d scare them.”

Without reaching for what Axe was presenting, Steven looked at the object in his hands. He was a bit confused, he didn’t know if Axe was handing it to him, or just showing him. “Oo looks cool!” Steven said enthusiastically. “What um… what is it?” he asked, confusion filling his voice. He really didn’t want to sound stupid, but he was hoping they won’t mock his confusion.

“...for you.” Axe said simply and tossed the fossil to Steven. “...I don’t know… what it is… but I thought you’d… like it.”

“It’s a fossil.” Willow explained, catching the sight of the fern. She kissed Axe’s bony forehead, her expression full of adoration. “That was a very sweet way to say you’re sorry, my love.”

“Oh wow,” Steven started, examining the fossil in his hands, “This is really cool!” he looked back up at Axe. “Thank you so much...but you didn’t have to go through all that work for me,” he offered Axe a crooked smile, his brows scrunched. “I’m also sorry… It wasn’t your fault.” 

Axe shrugged to show he held no hard feelings. "...no one… is perfect. ...friends?" He asked, his bony hand outstretched to Steven. Willow looked between them, her green eyes sparkling with anticipation while she held her breath.

Steven met Axe’s hand with his. “Of course!” he said with a bright smile. “This isn’t even the worst beginning to a friendship I’ve had, most of them started with them trying to kill me,” he let out a chuckle, “so this is nice. You’re a cool guy, Axe”. 

Axe's vacant grin stretched into a smile and his red light shined brightly. Willow squealed with joy, threw her arms round Axe, and wiggled with excitement.

"I'm so proud of you!" Willow peppered his skull with kisses as she spoke, "This is exactly what I was hoping for with this vacation!"

"...we're… trying to build… good relations between… humans and monsters." Axe explained to Steven while Willow ran off to grab her shawl from the door, practically skipping with excitement. "...so… if you want to know… anything about… my kind… just ask." Axe looked at Steven out of the corner of his socket, his eye light flickering curiously. "...do you think… you could teach me… about the creatures here… in exchange?"

Steven’s face scrunched a bit. “I uh… I don’t actually know much about the creatures here.” He paused and rubbed the back of his neck then glanced at the shack. “Ford could probably help teach you about the local species, he spent like six years studying everything here.” Steven paused again and lifted his hand up to his mouth, then spoke between his fingers “Dipper could probably help too but… probably not as much.” 

A smirk crossed Axe's skull while he watched Willow struggle with a knot she had made in her shawl. "...then I'll offer… the same to them. ...I want to know… about surface creatures… like that," Axe pointed up at the roof of the Shack, at the strange mix between cow and owl that sat on the peak, "...and it'll make… Willow happy to know… other humans… are curious about… my kind."

“Oh that’s… different,” Steven said as he looked up at the strange bird. “I can go get Ford and Dipper, maybe they can tell us about it?”

Steven trotted off into the house. Soon, he came back outside with Ford and Dipper trailing behind him, both holding journals. Dipper held a blue one with an image of a pine tree and Ford held a red one with a golden six fingered hand on the cover. Ford’s expression looked relieved that everyone seemed to be doing okay again. 

“...what’s that?” Axe asked without hesitation, pointing up at the bird with a bony finger as Ford, Dipper, and Steven approached. Willow trailed closely behind them while she tied her shawl around her waist like a loose belt.

“A cowl,” Ford said, sounding a bit surprised, “they are some sort of cow-owl mix.” He turned and looked at the group to explain, “Their eggs hold milk in them and,” he paused and hummed, “Normally their out at dawn or dusk and during the night… but,” he lifted a hand, gestured to the sky, “the sun’s still in the sky”. His brow crinkled, and he pulled a pen out of his pocket and opened the new journal to a page he had written out for cowls, and started writing some stuff down. 

“Do you think it could be sick?” Dipper asked, looking up at the strange bird. 

“Possibly, but we’d have to catch it and run tests…” Ford responded without looking up from his notes. Axe looked between him and Dipper, his skull tilted just slightly, then he disappeared in a puff of iron.

“Looks like Axe wants to help you two out,” Willow said cheerfully, looking up at the roof where Axe had reappeared. She watched him stalk the bird, whose focus was still on the group below. “I think that might be the same bird we saw yesterday before we came inside the Shack for Steven’s show.”

“That is very... peculiar…” Ford said, his focus on Axe and the cowl. He’s brows were scrunched down. None of that seems right to him

.  Axe crept across the mossy tiles of the roof, keeping his body low and in the shadows of the trees until he was only feet away. His bony fingers twitched with anticipation as he slowly reached for the strange bird, his red eye light flashing mischievously while his body tensed.

He pounced, a blue blur against the brown roof and his fingers snapped shut around the body of the bird like the bars of a bony cage. The creature ruffled its feathers and kicked, spraying Axe with milk from its tiny udders and used the liquid to slip free from its grasp.

“Hoo HOO!” It screeched in surprise, taking flight as Axe tried to swipe at it again. Axe watched it fly away over the tops of the pine trees, a scowl on his skull. He vanished from the roof and reappeared next to Willow on the ground below.

“...I… wasn’t expecting…” Axe held up the sleeves of his soaked hoodie. Willow giggled, pulled off her black shawl and gently started to wipe the milk away.

“It’s okay,” she said, dabbing at his damp skull. “You tried.” Looking to Ford and Dipper, she asked, “If it can still struggle and fly away, maybe it’s not very sick and will be okay?”

“Perhaps... “ Ford said as he brought his pen up to tap his chin, “It just doesn’t make sense…” He turned his head to Dipper, who was chewing on his pen, then looked up at Axe “What sound did it just make?” he asked firmly. 

“...like… an owl.” Axe said, his eye light flickering as Willow tried to clean the milk from his scar. “...hoo. ...hoo.”

Ford frowned at his notes then glanced over at Axe. “Normally they should go ‘Mhoo’...we’ll have to keep our eyes open, then I suppose we can run tests later…”

Axe glaced at Ford’s chest, his skull tilting at the sound of concern his soul made. “...I can… go find it… for you? ...I’m good at… finding things.” 

“Do you think it could wait a little bit?” Willow asked, smelling her shawl and Axe. “We need to get you some clean clothes before the milk sours in this heat.”

“We have a washing machine in the house if you would like to wash them? I know how bad sour milk can smell.” Ford shuttered at the memory. 

“You can borrow some of my clothes too, if you don’t have anything on you right now.” Steven offered with a lopsided smile. 

“Thank you, that’s really kind of you,” Willow said to Ford, a smile on her face.

“...I could wear… these.” Axe poked at the elastic on Steven’s swim trunks. “...they should shrink enough… to fit my bones.”

Steven glanced down at his slightly ripped trunks. “I have some gym shorts in my room, if that sounds better? And of course, shirts and jackets,” Steven said with his hand up, like he’s offering up something. 

“...that’s fine.” Axe mumbled as he pulled off his damp hoodie and t-shirt to hand over to Willow, exposing his bare rib cage. Thinking nothing of it, he almost pulled off his shorts before Willow’s hand shot out and stopped him.

“Why don’t you follow Steven for clothes, first?” She said quickly, her face flushed red with embarrassment for Axe. “Then you can give me your shorts.”

“...ok.” Axe shrugged and looked to Steven, waiting to be led.

Ford and Dipper looked at Axe’s exposed ribcage in awe. Ford started a new page and added a few notes on Axe, making several comments on having no internal organs.

Steven’s eyes widened as he made his way into the Shack. He was hit with the realization that he’s about to lead a shirtless person into his room. Granted, that person was a skeleton, and he reasoned with himself that HE has a skeleton, so it shouldn’t be too weird. He shook off any feelings of discomfort and waved to Axe to follow him through the house. Axe nodded and silently trailed after Steven. Ford, Dipper, and Willow soon followed, but while the latter three headed off to a different part of the house for the laundry room, Steven led Axe down the hall, creaking the worn wooden panels on the floor, and down the short curved stairway to his bedroom.

“So um… what kind of stuff do you like to wear? Do you have a style you prefer?” Steven asked after entering his room with Axe.

Axe shrugged, his red eye light slowly drifting over the various band posters that Steven had put up on the walls. “...whatever… is fine.” Axe said, walking over to the dresser to examine a large array of photos there. “...I just wear… what’s there.” As if to make this point, Axe turned from the dresser and picked up a random pair of pink swim trunks and a blue, flannel shirt off the ground. “...this is fine.”

Steven’s nose scrunched up a bit. “That… with that?” He shook his head, “No, that won’t do...” He took the flannel from Axe’s hand and then looked around his room in thought. He opened a drawer and pulled out one of his Dad’s old black shirts with a bright yellow star on it and black pair of jogging pants with elastic ankles and adjustable waistband. “Here,” he said and handed the ensemble back to Axe, including the blue flannel Axe had picked up before. “I also have beanies and jackets if you want to add more layers?” Steven smiled brightly, having a bit of pride in the outfit he had picked out for his new friend. “I also have shoes that…” he looked down at Axe’s copper colored slippers, “that would go well with the outfit if you wanna do that?” He warmly looked back at Axe’s red eye light. 

Axe examined the black pants curiously, then kicked off his grey shorts without any hint of shame for his bare bones. “...what’s a… beanie?” He asked, trying to fit the elastic ankle band over his slipper.

Steven’s gaze zipped over to the Sadie and Shep poster he had on the wall. “A beanie is like uh…” his eyes glanced over to his dresser and made his way over without looking at Axe. He pulled out a black beanie from his top drawer and turned his head just a bit, just to see if it was safe to turn around yet. Thankfully to Steven, Axe had the pants he had handed him on. Steven raised his brows. “Looks good, and this,” he held out the beanie, “goes over your head to keep your head and ears warm.” He paused in thought, hoping he wasn’t being rude with his head coverage suggestion. “You don’t have to of course, you look nice already, I just thought I’d offer since it should be getting chilly later.” 

“...skeletons don’t… get cold.” Axe mumbled as he pulled the black t-shirt over his head. He examined the yellow star on the front, then took the black beanie from Steven. “...I think… you should keep this.” Axe handed the beanie back to Steven. “...if you and… the humans don’t… mind my scar, I’d… like to keep it exposed.”

“That’s fine,” Steven smiled, then shoved the beanie back into his drawer. His gaze went down to the flannel Axe had yet to put on. “Do you also not get hot?” he raised a brow in confusion. 

“....no.” Axe tugged the blue flannel on over his bony arms and explained, “...skeletons don’t have… flesh to freeze… or burn. ...we actually… can’t feel at all… unless our magic… helps us.”

The sides of Steven’s lips tugged down a bit as his brows rose, and paused a moment to think that through. “Oh I get it, the Gems are like that too, they do feel and such, but they aren’t affected by cold or heat like I am.” 

“...we are still… affected.” Axe shrugged, “...we still… take damage. ...just because… a flame doesn’t hurt… doesn’t mean… it doesn’t blacken… our bones and… make them brittle.”

“Yeah I get that. For gems, if their physical form is damaged too much they poof back into their gem.. .and of course.. .a cracked gem is like a brittle bone i suppose…” Steven said, staring at the pictures of his family on the dresser. Steven cleared his throat then spoke up, “So, did you decide on shoes or would you rather keep the… slippers.” he ended that sentence with a little bit of discomfort. Slightly affected by the poor style mixture. However, he’s not one to complain about footwear, he practically wore sandals everyday he could. “It’s fine if you want to keep them on, of course”. 

“...I’ll keep them.” Axe looked back at the pictures and his red light stared at them. “...they keep me… quiet. ...I need to… keep Willow safe. …they give me… an advantage.” Axe then pointed at the various frames. “...who are… they?”

Steven looked over at the frames and started to point out the figures to Axe. “Well… here are me and Connie and,” his finger slid to the next one, “Stevonnie, you met them earlier.” His fingers went over to the frame with his immediate family photos in them. “This is my dad…. Garnet… Pearl… and Amethyst. They raised me,” he shifted a bit to the other photos. “This is me when I was little and helped start a band… This is me with a few of my gem friends from little homeworld Lapis, Bismuth, and Peridot.” He felt a pang of discomfort when he got to the last picture, which was the three diamonds holding him in their hand. “And these are my aunts… Yellow, Blue, and…” He paused when his finger went over her, but he managed to spit out, “White.” 

Axe watched Steven out of the side of his socket. Slowly, he brought his hand up, hesitated, then gently rested it on his forearm. “...it’s okay.” He looked back to the pictures, struggling with himself to say something comforting. “...you have… a big family, too. ...I wish I had… a picture… to show you my… seven brothers. …it can be… hard dealing with family... sometimes ...can’t it?”

“Yeah…” Steven paused then looked over at Axe, “Can I tell you something?” 

Axe nodded.

Steven’s finger tapped on White’s face in the picture. “White… she took over the minds of all of them,” he tapped on the faces of his gems and the other diamonds. “She made me question my identity… then she… ripped out my gem.” Steven’s hand gripped at his gem through his t-shirt. “I was going to die without it…” he looked at Axe’s flickering eye light. “I got it back of course,” he glanced back at the picture, “ and despite all of that… I helped her deal with the repercussions of her actions. I helped her fix her home and her people… I tried acting like everything was fine but… it haunted me. Before I... corrupted… I took over her body and tried to shatter her….at the time… I don’t really know what I was thinking… but…I wanted to do it so bad…” he looked down at his feet. “It was a downward spiral for sure… We’re okay now but we won’t ever be  _ good”.  _ He finally looked back up at Axe, hoping for understanding. 

Axe held Steven’s gaze for a long time, silently watching him. “...I’m… not very good at… speaking my mind.” Axe mumbled, scratching at his scar. “...but I don’t think… that desire… makes you a bad… person.” He looked back at Steven, hoping he would understand what he was trying to say. “...I know family… is supposed to be… the most important thing, but… that hasn’t stopped… me from… attacking my brothers… every now and then. ...I love them, but…” Axe’s red light flickered and started to go dark, “...but there’s one… that makes me feel… like you do when… you think of White.”

Steven stood silently, not sure of what to say. When he tried to open his mouth to speak, he couldn’t manage the words. Despite not knowing Axe, or how he’ll respond, Steven placed a hand on Axe’s shoulder and gently pulled him in for a hug. Axe stiffened, surprised at the contact, but slowly allowed it and raised his hands up to return the embrace. Steven absorbed the comfort, despite it feeling a bit clunky. He felt like Axe genuinely cared.

“...I...um…” Axe mumbled, his skull starting to turn red with nerves, “...I have to ask… Willow since… she’s the alpha, but…” Axe gently broke the embrace and fidgeted with the sleeves of his borrowed shirt. “...I’d like it if… I could show you… our home. ...my littlest brother… his name is Butch… he would like you.”

Steven gently smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that.” He looked over at his door then back at Axe “So um… are you ready to go show Willow your look?” his smile widening as he spoke of happier things. 

Axe picked his grey shorts up off the floor and looked over himself. “...if you think… it’s fine, then yes.”

Steven looked at Axe, then nodded his head. “Yeah,” he said approvingly, a hopeful smile gracing his face, “yeah, it’s fine.” Steven opened the door and led Axe through the house where he heard the most voices, to the kitchen. There, Willow was sitting at the dining table with the Pines family, while Mabel was walking out of the room when Axe and Steven were turning to enter.

“OH hey guys!” Mabel said happily, drawing all the attention on Axe and Steven. Willow turned from a conversation she was having with Stan and her eyes found Axe. Her cheeks flushed pink and she quickly looked back towards the table top.

“...heheh, she…  _ really _ likes it.” Axe elbowed Steven, his red light hazing slightly while he watched Willow forget her conversation topic with Stan and become even more flustered. “...I didn’t know… things like this… meant so much to… females. ...thanks, Steven. ...I owe you one.” Axe’s eye light flickered by his way of a wink and he went to Willow, to drape his arms over his shoulder and nuzzle her cheek affectionately.

“We should, um,” Willow took the grey shorts from Axe and quickly stood from the table, her voice a little higher than usual, “get these in the, uh, wash so we don’t overstay our um, our welcome!”

She fled from the dining area and Axe chased after her, grinning mischievously as he tried to catch her by the waist.

Steven clapped his hands together once the couple was out of sight. “I don’t know if I’m going to get my clothes back,” he said before laughing. Dipper’s hands flew to his temples as he tried to not picture anything. 

“I think they’re cute,” Mabel said with a smile, looking up at Steven. “His outfit is poppin!” she said with a wink and finger gun. Steven just chuckles in response. 

“Stan, did you remember to tell her where the detergent is?” Ford asked his brother with a raised brow. 

Stan opened his mouth and lifted a finger ready to protest that he wasn’t  _ that  _ forgetful, but he realized he did actually forget. “Ugh… I’ll go get it for her,” he grumbled and got up from his seat at the table. He made his way to the laundry room, but when he entered the room, he walked in on something a little more intense than clothes washing. 

Axe had Willow’s back pressed up against the washing machine, one of her legs lifted over his hip while his hand slipped under the bell of her lavender dress. Her face was flushed red as Axe nipped at her neck, and she bit at her lip while she clung to his back.

“Axe, not here,” she moaned softly to the side of his skull. He ignored her, turned her face towards his, and licked the side of her jaw with his glowing red tongue.

“...they’ll never know ...if I keep you quiet.” he whispered back, his hand catching her cheek and he mumbled between kisses, “...I just want… a little bit. ...you do too …don’t you?”

Stan had no idea what to say or do. He was  _ hoping  _ that they were just getting laundry started. 

“Later,” Willow pressed to Axe, putting a hand on his arm to slow him down. “We’re guests, we can’t do this here.”

Axe growled and bit at her ear. “...I’m going to… punish you later… for making me wait.”

“And I’ll look forward to that.” Willow turned his skull and gave him a small kiss. “Now calm down a bit before we go back out and see-” she turned her head, finally noticing Stan in the doorway, and her face turned a brilliant shade of crimson.

“...never see… a beta mark his alpha… before?” Axe chuckled at Stan and reluctantly pulled his hands and body away from Willow. 

Stan’s expression changed from shocked to frustrated. “Out. Both of ya. I’ll do your laundry." He growled, his expression stern. 

Willow raced out of the laundry room, hiding her red face and mumbling, “I’m so sorry,” as she darted past Stan. Axe stood there for a moment, a wide grin on his skull. He made a small jerking motion, frowned slightly, then disappeared in a puff of iron scent.

“Ugh…. what the fuck…..” Stan mumbled to himself as he chucked the laundry into the washing machine. He grabbed the detergent and just poured in a little too much and slammed the top closed. He pressed all the buttons, started it up, then crossed his arms. He sat silently for a minute before asking out loud, “How the  _ hell _ does that even  _ work _ ?” 

Out in the dining room, Willow raced past everyone, her hands up to hide the mortified expression on her face, and slammed the door shut to hide in the bathroom. Axe reappeared next to the table in a plume of iron, calmly took a seat next to Ford, and gave Steven a thumbs up before staring at the wall with his hazy red eye light.

Steven raised a brow at Axe’s gesture. Stan walked through the kitchen and straight for the couch and turned the tv on without speaking to anyone. Steven watched as he walked by, then looked at Ford, who also noticed Stan’s shift in attitude. The both got up from the table and walked to Stan’s chair. 

“Stanley, is everything okay?” Ford asked. 

Without looking away from the TV Stan grumbled, “Those kids are a bunch of horn dogs.” Steven stifled a chuckle, but got a look from Ford and quickly stifled the laugh. 

Ford sighed, finally understanding Willow’s embarrassment and Axe’s cocky attitude. “Stanley… I’m sure you were worse when we were in highschool.”

“OH I was worse when I was in highschool, and way worse in my twenties, but that’s not the point.” Stan finally looked up at Ford. 

“Then what is the point?” Ford asked, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“How does something like that even work?” Stan’s face scrunched. “He’s got no-” 

Ford burst into laughter. “I’m sure it’s the magic, Stanley,” Ford managed as he gasped for air, adding, “Magic does a lot.” 

Steven shifted uncomfortably and regretted coming along for this conversation, this was a little too awkward for him.

“Is that really what you’re upset about?” Ford asked, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder. 

“I'm not sure, give me time. I’ll think of something to be upset about,” Stan said crossing his arms. 

“Okay, Stanley,” Ford chuckled as he and Steven started to head out of the room, but then the tv said something alarming. 

“Attack in the campgrounds this morning. Some may say it is a large monster, but Gravity Falls officials say it was a bear attack, and if anyone asks otherwise, never mind all that. Park rangers encourage you to find a different camping location, or leave town. I’m Shandra Jimenez, signing off.” 

“Shit,” Stan mumbled out. 

“That is… alarming,” Ford mumbled before glancing at Steven. “We should inform our guests,” Ford stated before he and Steven headed back to the kitchen. 

“Axe, we need to talk to you and Willow, do you know if she’ll be back soon? It’s… kinda urgent,” Steven said as he gestured for Axe to get up from the table. 

“...you’re anxious.” Axe said simply, vanishing from the table to appear at Steven’s side his bony brow furrowed and his red eye light sharp. “...what’s wrong?”

“There was an attack at the campsite… it won’t be safe for you to stay there tonight..” Steven started to say before Ford appeared at his side to finish the explanation.

“You may be allowed to relocate your campsite to right outside the Shack. That way we’ll be close by in case of another attack and we should still have a protection spell on the house… although that was for Bill… maybe I can try to make a general protection spell from gremgoblins or kill billies…” Ford paused and looked up at Axe, “The more hostile local species,” he clarified. 

Axe nodded, holding his chin in his bony hand while he thought. “...we’ll come… here. ...I’ll keep this place… safe if… something does come.” He looked up, his red eye light darting towards Steven, Ford, and the bathroom. “...in exchange… you must keep her… in here… if I have to fight… for any reason.”

“Of course, we have no problem with that,” Ford said with a nod, his hands behind his back. “Should we inform her of the camping situation, or would you rather let her know?” 

“...I will tell her.” Axe’s red eye light found Steven’s gaze and held it. “...if I bring her… inside… you must not… let anyone come out. ...for any reason, until… I come in. ...understand?”

Steven looked into Axe’s eye and nodded “I understand.” Ford offered a nod in understanding as well. 

“...we’ll be back… soon.” Axe offered a smile, to lighten the heavy mood, and vanished. There was some noise inside the bathroom, mainly Willow yelling that he should have at least knocked, and then her voice was cut off mid sentence as they vanished from the house.

~~~

Axe’s sockets opened and his red light flickered into existence. He laid on a grey sleeping bag, his arm around Willow’s bare waist, as he listened to the night sounds outside of the canvas tent. The crickets didn’t bother him, nor did the low mewl of souls from the woodland creatures. There were other sounds, ones similar to human souls that he now understood were from the surface monsters in the area, but that wasn’t what bothered him, either.

He sat up, letting their shared blanket fall to the sleeping bag. Willow turned on her side in her sleep, searching for his touch while her soul chirped sleepily, but Axe tilted his skull to catch the breeze drifting through a slit in their tent. Something was off. He wouldn’t be awake otherwise.

Axe tucked the blanket over Willow, over the blue flannel that she now wore after he gave it to her to cover herself. Axe crouched, catlike in the tent, and snuck silently outside into the night.

His bare ribs moved under the moonlight as he breathed deeply, trying to smell beyond the thick scent of pine sap, of lingering charcoal ash and seared meat. He could still smell the sweat of the humans he had visited during midday. Axe’s red eye light darted around, showing him a twilight world despite him knowing it was absolute darkness for a human.

There, movement, just on the other side of the log walls of the Shack. A low growl vibrated Axe’s ribs. He had scouted the area before he slept, to make sure it was free of any threats, but this was bigger than a forest predator. This wasn’t a wolf, or a bear, or even a cougar. And that soul sound he heard, like cicadas, it was one he had heard since the first day they came to Gravity Falls. He did not like that sound.

Slowly, his footsteps like a fox’s over the needle strewn ground, Axe krept up on the unknown creature. It was still close to the Shack, its long claws testing the logs of the cabin as it tried to climb silently up. Axe froze. That was too close for comfort. Spinning on his copper slipper, he silently dashed back towards the tent where Willow was sleeping.

He scooped her form up into his arms, pulled up her black thigh high socks to cover her scars, and reached for the void with the path he wished to take firmly in his mind. Steven’s room materialized before him and Axe gently dumped Willow, his precious alpha, onto the bed next to his new friend. He trusted Steven enough to share his story, now it was Steven’s turn to prove he deserved that trust.

Axe vanished, leaving only a faint trace of his iron-scented magic behind in the room, and reappeared outside. He looked up at the side of the Shack, to see that his new creature had made more progress.

It was near the top, by an attic window. The sight made Axe bristle with anger. Willow’s room was in the attic at their home. That was all he needed, just that little bit of memory and the knowledge that his alpha was inside this cabin, to push Axe over the edge. The light vanished from his socket, red plasma flowed from his joints and gathered in his hand as a large butcher’s cleaver took its form.

Axe growled loudly, incapable of words, at the creature on the walls of the log cabin. It turned its massive, green face; the light from the crescent moon reflecting off its horns. It was easily twice as tall as Axe and four times as wide, but that didn’t matter.

Killing intent filled Axe’s soul. Someone would be dust tonight. Axe lowered his stance, gripped the red cleaver tightly in his bony hand, and leapt at the intruder.


	2. Chapter 2

The moonlight was shining through Steven’s window when he found himself waking up. His vision was blurry when he started to open his eyes; his dark room only illuminated by the dim light of the moon. When he shifted in bed he wrapped his arms around whom he assumed was his girlfriend, nuzzled up close to her, and closed his eyes. She sighed with contentment, her hand snaking over Steven’s chest to pull him closer, and buried her face into his shoulder while her leg wrapped around his.

Realization hit Steven like a canon to the chest and his eyes flew open. Connie went home, so who was in his bed? He quickly pulled his arms away from the slim form next to him, the movement causing her long, wavy hair to cascade over his pillow. He shot out of the bed in a pink glow and looked down at the sleeping stranger as he floated feet above her. 

“Willow?” he breathed out quietly, hardly loud enough to wake a sleeping puppy. She didn’t stir at his question. He slowly floated his way down towards the floor next to his bed and looked at her face, his pink glow lighting up her sleeping features. He swung his feet out from under his body and slowly floated his way down to the ground. He started filling with panic. 

_ ‘Is Connie going to be mad? I slept with someone else, am I a bad person?’ _

While Steven was aware of what sex was, he didn’t understand the terminology surrounding it. So when he’d hear about people getting mad that their partner slept with someone else, he honestly thought they meant just sleeping. 

His hands covered his face as his panic increased, but then he remembered that Axe had mentioned bringing Willow inside in case of an emergency. His eyes zipped across the room; Axe was nowhere to be seen. That could only mean that Axe was outside alone with a threat. Steven glanced around, pulled down a thick sheet of metal Ford had customized to fit perfectly over the window, and ran out the door. Steven sped his way through the house and out the side door, and he quickly jumped into the air in the hopes of spotting Axe. 

He found Axe on the foreground by the tree line, his bare, skeletal back facing the house. Steven floated down to the ground and started to walk closer to Axe, but stopped before he got too close. The smell of iron filled his nostrils and he saw red plasma leaking from Axe’s bony fingers. Steven froze as he spotted the glowing, red butcher’s cleaver in the tight grip of Axe’s right hand and his frozen, waiting stance. Steven felt his stomach drop. This didn’t feel right. 

Steven put on a burst of speed to go back into the house, back to his room where he had left Willow sleeping in his bed. She was still exactly how he left her, but his glow intensified. He was scared. 

“Willow,” he whispered quietly, and gently shook her shoulder. ”Please wake up,” he added, slightly louder.

“...Axe?” she mumbled sleepily, sitting up. The blanket she held fell into her lap as she shielded her eyes against the bright, pink light. She mumbled sleepily, “Wait… Steven? Why are you in our tent?”

“This is my room,” he said quickly, just trying to get to the point. “Axe brought you in here…” He paused to think. “ I don’t know exactly when, though…” 

“...brought me?” Willow blinked. Her green eyes slowly widened and she looked down at herself, pulled the flannel shut over her indecency, and sat forward. “Where is he?” she asked, her tone sharp. She didn’t wait for Steven to answer, she kicked the blankets off and jumped from the bed, not caring that she was in pretty much her underwear and long, thigh-high socks, and ran towards the door.

“Wait! I don’t think it’s safe… he told me to keep you inside!” Steven rushed to stand in front of the door, panic in his eyes. 

Willow paled. “You mean he’s lost himself?” She threw herself at Steven, trying to push past him and into the hall. As she struggled to move him away from the doorway, she snarled, “Get out of the way, Steven! He needs me!”

“He told me to keep you safe,” he pleaded, holding his ground in front of the door, shapeshifting to make himself taller. “I need to keep you safe...” he mumbled, his voice slightly breaking as his eyes welled with tears.

“You don’t understand!” Willow’s voice cracked as she clawed at Steven’s arm. “He can’t come back on his own! He could hurt someone and he’ll only get worse if he stays like this. He can’t come back without me or Butch and Butch isn’t here!”

Steven looked into her eyes. “How do you know he won’t hurt you…?” His voice shook as a tear made its way down his cheek. 

“I don’t care if he does.” Willow kept trying to push him out of the way, her motions becoming more frantic as she tried to hide her own watering eyes. “I don’t care if he hurts me, I don’t care, I can’t lose him forever! I can’t take the thought…” She wiped at her face, then looked to Steven, her voice cracking again. “Please, Steven. I love him too much.”

Steven felt the pain she was experiencing. His eyes looked around the room as he tried to think. When he was corrupted, he would not have been able to come back without his family. Sapphire said he could have been like that forever if they hadn’t reached him. His eyes looked back down at Willow’s eyes and, while he shrunk back to normal size, he kept his pink glow. “I won’t let you go alone…” he said and he moved out of the way and opened the door. 

“Thank you, Steven,” Willow sniffed and wiped at her face again with the sleeve of the blue flannel. She followed him out of the room, up the stairs, while he showed her the way. “I don’t care if you come with, but whatever you do, don’t approach him after I do. He won’t recognize friends when he’s lost. He barely recognizes his family.”

“Okay…” Steven said as they reached the side door leading out of the house “could I bubble you..? Just in case?” he asked hopefully. 

Willow shook her head, her eyes focused on Axe’s back as they slowly approached. “He needs contact and comfort; reassurance that there’s no longer a threat he has to defend his home against. Even if he didn’t need that, I’d be afraid to approach him with another’s magic on me.”

She took a few steps away from Steven, swallowed past the lump in her throat, and turned back to say one last thing. “He probably will hurt me, but don’t rush in. He doesn’t mean to but… if he does get too aggressive…” she bit her lip, “Sans isn’t here, so there’s no one else I can ask… but you might need to restrain him as a last resort.”

Steven looked at her, and nodded silently. Once she turned back around he was filled with fear and helplessness. He wished he could help.

“Axe? Sweetheart?” Willow said gently, cautiously approaching Axe with slow, deliberate steps. A low growl filled the air, growing in volume the closer she got. When she was less than a yard away, Axe turned. His sockets were dark, his teeth were twisted into a snarl, and his grip tightened on the cleaver in his hand. “Axe, it’s me. It’s Willow.”

Axe growled again, his stance sinking slightly like he was going to pounce on her. Willow slowly reached out a hand, touched his shoulder, and faster than the eye could follow he grabbed her. Willow winced as his bony finger tips dug into her arm, but she ignored the blood seeping from the wounds and took another step closer. Beneath Axe’s growl, a gentle, lilting melody filled the air as she started to hum.

His grip relaxed slightly, enough that Willow felt she could move in and embrace him. She wrapped one arm around his bare ribcage. The other came up and she gently traced the tips of her fingers over his skull; careful to avoid the dark, jagged hole. Axe’s stance relaxed somewhat, his growl slowly fading, and the grip on his cleaver lessened enough that it fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Willow slowly brought them onto the ground and moved Axe into her lap. His hands twitched once, twice, then they came up to hold her. The cleaver on the ground began to disappear, like sand in the breeze, and his red eye light flickered on his left socket.

“It’s okay,” Willow sang, matching the melody of her lullaby, “I’m here, nothing’s going to hurt us. We’re safe.”

Steven slowly approached Willow, licked his palm, and gently tapped his hand on Willow’s fresh wound. His spit seeped through the flannel and healed the punctures. The once dropping blood turned into a vanishing shimmer in the air. 

“Is everything okay now…?” Steven asked nervously.

Willow nodded and gave Steven a thankful smile while she hummed, trying to show her appreciation for his healing magic. Axe avoided Steven’s gaze by burying his face into the crook of Willow’s neck.

“....I’m sorry,” Axe mumbled. “...I didn’t want… you to be hurt.”

“You didn’t mean it.” Willow’s humming stopped so she could whisper to the side of his skull. “You did it to protect us, didn’t you? I know you wouldn’t have let yourself get that far gone unless you thought it was serious.”

Axe nodded into her neck and Willow turned back to Steven.

“Do you think it would be rude if I asked to use the kitchen?” she asked him. “I’d like to make something for Axe and you, too, Steven.”

“Uh… “ he paused, pulling his phone out of his pajama bottoms. “It’s pretty late… but if we’re quiet it should be fine.” He looked up from his phone. “I paid for all the groceries, so I have no problem with it,” he added, before looking down at his hand. It took a few deep breaths before his pink glow faded. 

“Thank you, I appreciate it.” Willow helped Axe to his feet and gave Steven a shy smile. “I’d really like to bake you all something. Not only to help Axe feel better but to thank you and…” her cheeks flushed with a slight pink, “...and to apologize to Stan for, um, for our rude behavior.”

Steven let out a small awkward chuckle. “I’m sure things will be fine with Stan.” He gently shook his head to get the thought out of his head about Axe and Willow being ‘horn dogs’. His gaze moved between the couple and realized they’re pretty much half dressed. “Maybe you guys should get dressed before we go to the kitchen...” He mumbled, his face dusted with an awkward blush.

Willow’s cheeks flushed a brilliant crimson and she moved Axe in front of her to help cover herself. It didn’t do much, since he was just bone and it was easy to see through him. “Y-yeah,” she stuttered, “good idea.”

~~~

The kitchen was filled with the smells of cinnamon, frying eggs, and coffee. Willow darted along the counter in a crimson shirt dress, juggling the tasks of making breakfast and coffee for the house. Despite Steven’s small protests that she didn’t have to, Willow insisted that it was no trouble at all and it was the least she could do to express her and Axe’s appreciation for the welcome they received.

Axe, who wasn’t allowed to help cook, sat at the table. He once again wore his usual threadbare, blue hoodie and grey shorts, and he watched Steven curiously as Steven opened a series of plastic, orange bottles.

“Here you go, boys,” Willow said sweetly, set a cafe au lait next to Steven, and handed Axe a hot cocoa. “Extra cream and sugar, just like you asked, Steven. You said Ford takes his black, usually? Or was that Stan?”

“Ford’s usually okay with black coffee, Stan likes his coffee with creamer and lots of sugar.” Steven paused and got himself a glass of water and pulled out pills from his medication bottles. He took the pills in one hand, dropped them in his mouth, and took them all in one gulp of water. “I’ll probably have to wait to drink my coffee, though.” 

“Is food okay?” Willow asked, midway done with a plate of eggs and toast. Axe reached across the table to turn one of the medicine bottles and examined it curiously. “The cinnamon rolls are almost cool enough for icing, so if you want to wait…”

“Food is fine,” Steven said with a smile as he placed the bottles back in the cabinet. “Coffee just makes me extra anxious when I drink it with my meds,” he added with a small shrug. 

“...I’m not allowed… to drink coffee… at all. ...I get… hyper.” Axe said matter-of-factly and sipped his hot cocoa. Willow returned to the table, a large plate in each hand, and set them in front of Axe and Steven. To Steven, Axe asked, “...do you have… a headache?”

Steven raised a brow. “What? No. My head feels fine, why do you ask?” He questioned, slight confusion on his face. 

“...Willow takes those…” Axe took a bite of toast and pointed towards the cabinet where Steven had put his medicine away, “...when she has… headaches.”

“Axe, it’s not the same kind of pill,” Willow said gently as she brought over silverware - a fork for Steven and a spoon for Axe. While she gave Steven his fork, she explained, “Monsters don’t have medicine in the Underground. He’s not trying to be insensitive.”

“Oh, I see...” Steven said before turning to Axe. “I just take them to help me deal with... myself?” He asked it like a question, but that was only because he didn’t want to get into it. “I know you’ve seen me when I’m not good, but without these I’m sure it would be like that more often… probably,” he ended quietly and looked down at the food in front of him. “Smells good.” he said, offering a smile to Willow. 

Willow looked over her shoulder, from the cinnamon rolls she was covering in thick, white icing, and beamed at him. “Eat as much as you like. I… uh… accidentally cooked like I was feeding my house… It’s hard to get out of the habit of cooking for eight guys and myself after living with them for so long.”

Steven made a mental note that he should probably go get groceries again soon. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” he said with a smile. He took his fork, stabbed at a large piece of egg, and took a bite. Once he started chewing he heard footsteps coming towards them. A sleepy Ford walked into the room, wearing red plaid pants, a plain black shirt and an untied, black robe covering his ensemble. 

“Good Morning, Steven,” he greeted with his voice still groggy. His eyes widened as he realized the other two in his kitchen. “And guests,” he added with a small head bow, keeping his hands in his robe pockets. 

“Good morning, Stan!” Willow said cheerfully, moving to make another plate.

“...Ford.” Axe chuckled, gently correcting her and grinning as her face flushed with embarrassment from her mistake.

“O-oh, sorry,” she mumbled, making a show of busying herself with a pour over to hide her awkwardness.

Ford raised a hand from his pocket and gently shook his hand to dismiss her apology. “It’s quite alright, my dear child. Our own father got us mixed up, so I understand the confusion.” He strode over near Willow, his brown eyes looking over her shoulder to watch her hands as she worked. “What concoction are you putting together?” he asked politely. 

Willow gave him a shy smile, appreciating his understanding. “Scrambled eggs and toast,” she held a plate out to him, stuffed a fork into the eggs, and took a steaming mug from the counter to offer as well. “-and a pour over coffee. Black, just how you like it. I’ll hand out the cinnamon rolls once I finish icing them.”

Ford took everything offered to him. “You didn’t poison any of this, did you?” He asked with a raised brow and a joking smile playing on his lips. 

“Of course not!” Willow huffed and picked up the bowl of icing to resume work on the rolls. As she slapped a generous spoonful onto one, she added a playful smirk on her face, “And I didn’t burn the coffee, either!”

Ford’s brows scrunch up in the middle and a smile tugged on his left cheek. “Alright then,” he said, then he made his way to sit at the table by Steven. He sneakily pulled out a small test stick from his pocket and stuck it in his coffee. When he pulled it out to see there was nothing alarming to see, he placed it back in his pocket and took a sip out of his coffee; a relaxed expression on his face. 

“Here you go,” Willow placed two cinnamon rolls in front of Axe, a trio of flat, white biscuits on the side, and gave him a kiss on the top of his skull. As she gave a warm roll to Steven, she smiled and said, “Enjoy! Ford, I’ll get yours in just a second. And Steven? When you’re done with your plate, could you give it to Axe?”

Steven glanced down at his plate then up at Willow. “Sure.” 

Ford quietly watched as the others ate for a moment before starting on his food. He kept trying to nonchalantly sneak a peek on what exactly was in Axe’s mouth. Considering he was a skeleton that had no stomach, he wondered where all the food was going.

“Thank you,” Willow gently brushed her fingers over Steven’s hair as she placed a cinnamon roll in front of Ford. “He just hates wasting food, so he- Axe! Don’t hide those, eat them!”

“....don’t want to.” Axe mumbled sheepishly and pulled a white biscuit out of his pocket to set back on the plate.

“You need the magic, so you have to.” Willow huffed, her hands on her hips. “Why do you think I gave them to you with the cinnamon rolls? To get the taste out of your mouth, you clod.”

Axe grumbled under his breath and popped all three biscuits behind his teeth at once. He grimaced, stuck out his glowing red tongue in disgust, and wiped the icing from his last cinnamon roll on it. He paused, noticing Ford’s glance, and sat there for a moment with his tongue hanging out before drawing it back behind his teeth. “...yes?”

Ford’s eyes widened a bit before he answered awkwardly, “I’m just curious is all… would it be alright if I wrote down some notes on you and asked some questions…?” His shoulders slowly moved up to his ears as he spoke. He lowered his shoulders and pulled out his journal. “I’ll show you the other species I have studied,” he offered, lifting his journal onto the table. 

“...okay.” Axe nodded, taking a bite of his cinnamon roll. His red eye light drifted curiously towards the journal and the handprint on the cover.

Ford flipped through a few pages before reaching a blank one. Some of the pages he passed hand notes on Gems, Steven, and a large monster whose name was written in ciphers. 

“Ah, okay, so,” Ford started as he quickly started on a drawing of Axe. “If you're fully skeleton, how do you have a tongue, consume food, or procreate?” He asked while glancing up from his drawing. 

Axe’s red eye light flickered in confusion. “...magic.”

“It’s more than that, hun.” Willow sighed as she brought over another hot chocolate for Axe. To Ford, she explained, “Magic comes from a monster’s soul and manifests their body, therefore it also compensates for things they lack. When Axe wants to eat or use his tongue, his magic will gather in his mouth and manifest a tongue. Consuming food works in a similar way. Skeletons have a void in the back of their mouth that acts as a kind of magical reactor. It breaks down whatever enters it to a molecular level, extracts the magic it contains to send to their soul, while the rest is sent to the quantum realm to be recycled back into the universe. As for, um, procreation,” she turned pink, “their magic also helps them compensate. Monsters come in all shapes and sizes, so males have the ability to adapt to their chosen female.”

As she explained, Ford paused with his drawing and he wrote down everything she said. 

“Fascinating...” He mumbled, his brow furrowed as he thought. Once he was done with his notes, he went back to his drawing. He paused for a moment when he realized he couldn’t really think of any further questions. He glanced back up at Axe once he finished drawing. “Would you like to look through it?” Ford asked, holding up his journal. Axe nodded and held out his skeletal hand, realized there was icing on it, and licked it clean before reaching for the journal.

“May I ask you a question?” Willow asked Ford as she took a seat next to Axe, a plate in one hand and a mug in the other.

“Why of course,” Ford answered with a patient smile. 

“What got you curious about monsters?” Willow took a sip of her latte and explained, “I ask because where I’m from, they’re looked upon with a lot of fear and scorn. It would help me a lot with changing people’s minds if I knew why you became interested in them.”

“Well, as a child I was interested in monsters and science fiction and, due to my own differences, I was considered a freak by everyone outside of my family. This led me to a fascination with the strange. Then eventually, after obtaining my doctorites and receiving a large grant, I decided to study anomalies, and being an anomaly, myself, it felt right,” he said as he presented his six-fingered hands. “I had believed Gravity Falls to have high calculations of anomalies and, after moving here, I discovered more than  _ just _ abnormalities. I discovered creatures and monsters and, with its abundance of weirdness, I felt comfortable with who I am here,” he ended with a smile.

“That’s… really impressive.” Willow’s fork paused halfway to her mouth, her eyes shining with admiration. “Did you say you have  _ several _ doctorates? And you chose to study monsters, er, anomalies?”

“Twelve doctorates, and yes, they are very fascinating,” he said with a warm smile. 

Willow returned the expression and Axe paused to look up from the journal, his red eye light narrowing slightly as he looked between her and Ford. He slowly returned to the pages, to study the drawings of various creatures as he gingerly turned each page between his bony fingers.

“For, um, what it’s worth,” Willow mumbled into her mug, “I don’t think you’re a freak at all. I understand what you mean… Axe and his family embrace who I am and that’s more than I can say about most humans.”

“Well thank you,” Ford said with an appreciative smile. “It’s always nice to have a place that feels like home.” His gaze shifted to where Stan’s room was. “Though, it feels more like home in the last few years than it did when I was alone.” He looked back at Willow, his eyes showing remorse and happiness at the same time. Ford glanced at Steven, who offered him a kind smile, before handing his plate to Axe. “Steven’s a nice addition, I must admit,” Ford added with a small chuckle. 

Willow nodded and her gaze fell to her food as she pushed it around the plate with her fork. “Yeah… being alone for a long time really makes you appreciate having a home, doesn’t it?”

Axe took the plate Steven offered him and set the journal onto the table. He poked Ford with a bony finger while he licked the last bits of food away and pointed at a picture in the journal. The picture was of a large creature with horns. “...what’s that?” he asked with a slight, growly undertone. 

“That is a gremgoblin. Most that I have encountered can become aggressive very quickly. Their eyes can show someone their worst nightmare and they have venomous quills…” he paused in thought. “But apparently, they become easy to subdue if you cover their eyes.” Ford responded, a brow raised. 

“...are they… common?” Axe asked, pulling the journal back up to study the picture again. “...do they run… in packs or… are they…. solitary hunters? ...where do they… nest?”

“They aren’t the most common considering it is a hybrid between a gremlin and a goblin,” Ford said, lifting a finger to his chin. “So far in my studies, they have been solitary hunters, and as for nests… we’ve only been able to run into old nests, they seem to move around quite a bit.” Ford hummed in thought, then looked up into Axe’s eye light. “Why do you ask?” 

“...one was trying… to break into… the Shack… last night.” Axe growled, his red light fading slightly in his anger. “...I scared it… off, but… I want to… finish it. ...it threatened… my alpha’s safety and… this place.” he started to rise from the table, “...I’ll find it. ...it’s wounded and… I know its scent. ...that’s enough.”

Steven started glowing pink and stood up. “Thank you for breakfast Willow…” he said quietly before walking away from the table towards his bedroom. 

“That doesn’t make sense for a gremgoblin… they’d only try breaking in if they ran out of food in the forest…” Ford paused, deep in thought. “Your endeavor may be quite difficult… despite it being a lone hunter, the family of it may take it personally. Accomplishing such a feat may take quite a lot of planning.” 

“...fuck that.” Axe growled and started to move from the table. Willow dove from her chair and latched onto his arm, holding him in place.

“Axe, no!”

“...let go!” He turned, his sockets black and a snarl on his skull, on her. “...I’m your beta! ...it’s my job… to protect you!”

“Listen to Ford!” Willow pleaded, her grip tightening around Axe while he tried to shake her off. “You’re strong, but even you can be overwhelmed by numbers. Even if you aren’t, what then? You’ll be alone in the forest, not even knowing who you are! You can find anything, Axe, but I can’t. How do you expect me to find you if you just run off on your own?”

Axe stilled, the red light coming back to his socket.

“You scared it off, didn’t you?” Willow asked, her arms slowly working so that she embraced him completely, not just his arm. “You can’t protect me if you’re gone. Stay here. We’ll work something else out instead. Steven and Ford will help us; it’s their home, after all.” She turned her head to get confirmation from Ford, then to look for Steven. “...where’s Steven?”

“He excused himself,“ Ford answered vaguely. He didn’t know if Steven was comfortable with them, or how much they knew, but if they didn’t know anything too serious about him, he didn’t want to be the one to tell them.

“...he won’t help.” Axe grumbled, allowing himself to be sat back down by Willow. “...he does not… want to kill. ...it’ll have to… be me… if it comes back.”

Ford bit the inside of his cheek before responding. “I know of several gremgoblins in Gravity Falls. You must be one hundred percent sure before making any final decisions… Otherwise the local monsters may see it as merciless and a meaningless killing…” His tone was grim. 

“Is there a way to contact the other monsters?” Willow asked, her brow furrowed in thought. “If there’s a food shortage, then the gremgoblins won’t be the only ones having a hard time out there. If we would coordinate with the others, then we could find a lasting solution.”

Axe moodily stuffed his hands into the pockets of his blue hoodie. “... if that’s what… you want to do. …you’re the alpha. ...but if I find out… they approached… this place again... I’m going after them.”

“Not many have communication services, but Mabel usually gets her ex-boyfriend to tell the rest of the Gnomes and they usually make good time contacting the other monsters.” Ford paused for a minute and the gentle scrape of Willow’s fork filled the kitchen as she fussed with the remainder of her food. Finally, Ford added thoughtfully, “Many of the friendly monsters are gathering with the kids for a bonfire tonight. I’m sure Mabel would have no problem with the two of you going to ask questions about the situation in the forest.”

“Thank you, Ford.” Willow breathed a small sigh of relief. “We’d be grateful for yours and Mabel’s help; I’d rather this was settled peacefully. It would also be nice, once we can smooth all this over, to try and build some friendly connections with the monsters here and with the Underground, too. Right, Axe?”

Axe didn’t respond immediately. His red eye light was on the floor, looking towards Steven’s bedroom. “...Steven should… stay here. ...he’s… been through enough. ...if I have to… fight anyone… I don’t want him… to see more…. Violence.”

“I believe he’s planning on attending to be with his friends,” Ford stated. “The likelihood of a threat coming around with that many allies together is slim.”

Axe nodded slowly, his bony fingers coming up to cup his jaw. “...I do have… some questions… for them that… you humans can’t answer. ...and if going cheers… Steven up…” his red light glanced at the floor again. “...that would be… good. ...he’s… upset, right now.”

“Then go talk to him,” Willow gently suggested to Axe. “I know you two are very close. You brought me to him before you went out last night. You’d have to trust someone a lot to do that.”

“...no.” Axe shook his skull. “...I know… we are the same… in many ways. ...he told me… some of his story. ...we have similar sufferings… and fears. ...we both want… to protect those we… care for, but I... do not… share his desire for… mercy for my… enemies. ...I’m not sorry… for that.”

Willow frowned and she looked towards Ford for help. “You’ve known Steven longer than us. If he’s upset, is it better for us to leave him alone for awhile?”

“Usually when he’s upset this early, he tends to go on runs around the valley, you could ask him to join if you’d like, but I’m not sure he’ll want to talk about his feelings this early,“ Ford answered with a sad shrug.

“...maybe he’d like some company.” Willow got to her feet and glanced between Axe, Ford, and the breakfast waiting on the counter. “I’ll, um, ask him. Don’t worry about cleanup, I made the mess and I’ll take care of it after everyone takes what they want.”

“...I’ll be… on the roof.” Axe mumbled, then vanished in a puff of iron. Willow stared at the spot he had left empty, bit her lip, and sighed. She thanked Ford again for his help, then set off towards the spot through the floor Axe had been staring at.

She found a short series of steps that lead to a basement door. A small smile tugged at her cheeks as she thought of who lived in the basement of her home. “Steven?” she asked gently, unsure if she was knocking at the right door. “I... heard you liked to take morning runs.” Willow glanced down at her crimson shirtdress and black, thigh high socks. It wasn’t really the best set of running clothes, but if the company made Steven feel better, she didn’t think it mattered too much. “Would you mind if I joined you?”

When the door opened, Steven was wearing black running pants, similar to what he let Axe borrow; running shoes, and a light pink crop top that exposed his gem that said ‘fuck your gender norms’, all topped with an unzipped black jacket that has bedazzled lettering saying ‘Mabel Approved’. He looked a bit confused, but thankfully no longer pink. 

“Uh.. sure.” The side of his mouth tugged into a smile. “You um.. want to borrow some running clothes?” He asked, looking at her dress. 

“Thanks, I’d appreciate it…” Willow smiled nervously and scratched at the back of her head. “And if it’s not too much trouble, do you have anything that’s pure cotton? Other materials tend to catch on my…” she mumbled, “...my scars.”

Without another word, Steven turned around and started digging through his drawer. “Leggings or sweatpants, which works better for you?” He turned around and held up a few options, ranging in colors. 

“Oh! Those will do fine!” Willow took a pair of grey sweatpants from Steven and, without taking anything else off, put them on under her dress. She skillfully pulled her long, thigh high socks off beneath the sweatpants, and tied her dress into a knot at the side. “This should be fine, right? I… I don’t really want to wear a crop top…”

Steven let out a small laugh, “Well good, because I don’t have any other crop tops,” and turned back to his dresser. “Short sleeve or long sleeve? Unless you want to just wear sweatpants with your dress?”

“Short sleeves are fine.” Willow giggled, taking a stab at some humor, “Although, I would definitely be the most well dressed jogger in the area with the dress on. Do you think the deer would dub me their queen?”

Steven let out a little chuckle “I’m sure if the gnomes see you, they’ll definitely try,” he gave her a genuine smile. He wasn’t lying. 

“Oh jeez, that’s exactly what I need: more betas.” Willow gave an exaggerated sigh and waved her hand in the air dramatically. “Maybe I can tell them they’re honorary and call them gammas, or something.”

Steven raised a brow. “There’s like… a thousand… I would be lying if I told you that would be a good idea.” He picked up a blue short sleeve that had a lily bouquet printed on it and offered it to her. “Hope that’s okay.” 

“Yeah!” Willow eagerly took the shirt from Steven, a broad smile on her face as she looked over the print. “You know, you could teach the boys at Lane 66 a thing or two about fashion sense. They sure as hell could use it.”

“Yeah, Axe actually asked me about coming and visiting, so… maybe I can do that while I’m there.” Steven smiled softly and walked out of his room. “I should let you change,” he said, gave her a thumbs up, and closed the door. 

With the door closed, Willow tugged off her crimson dress, tucked it between her knees, and pulled on the blue t-shirt. She neatly folded her dress and socks, to keep them free of wrinkles, and looked around the room for a place to put them. She found it surprising, now that she was awake and allowed to be in here, to see that Steven kept his room clean.

“He doesn't seem like a neat freak,” Willow mumbled to herself while she laid her clothes on the made bed. “Definitely not. Hm, but boys his age shouldn’t be this tidy?”

Curious, Willow looked around the room a second time, taking the chance to study the band posters on the walls and the photos on the dresser. She walked over to them, looking at the frames without touching. There was only one human besides Connie featured; the only one who also seemed to express age. “That must be his dad. His mom…” She looked over the other smiling faces and gave a small frown. “...isn’t here. Raised by his dad, but picks up after himself even though dad doesn’t seem too well kept… didn’t he say he lived in a van? So when did he start looking after himself? If he didn’t pick up his dad’s habits, then he must’ve not lived together with his father for very long...” She also noticed small doodles he had drawn of nature and landscapes. A small smile crept onto her face. “A gentle soul, but I knew that…”

Willow hummed thoughtfully to herself, her gaze now studying a large, diamond like object hidden in the back of the frames. It looked like Steven’s pupils when he got upset. “...she left him when he was young. That explains why he sounded so resentful when he spoke about her powers…” Willow shook her head. She wasn’t here to analyze Steven… but she wanted to help him if she could. She decided to put what she knew in a box and shelved it in her mind. If he wanted to talk about it, then that was his choice.

Flicking the light switch, Willow left Steven’s room and went to go find him. 

She didn’t have to look too long, as soon as she turned the corner Steven was leaning against the hallway wall on his phone. His eyes shot up when he saw her out of the corner of his eye. “You look like you’re ready to go out into the woods,” he beamed. 

“Yup!” Willow lifted her arm and put her hand on her bicep like she was showing off. “Just one last thing and we can head out.” She led Steven outside the house and shouted up to the roof, “Axe! I’m going out with Steven for a bit, okay?”

“....okay.” Axe’s voice drifted down.

“So, trail master, where to?” Willow asked while she lifted her knee up to stretch.

Steven joined her in stretching. “I normally go around the entire valley, then go up and run the rim, then stop by on the cliff between the falls and the train tracks,” he said this while pointing up, but with so many trees in the way, it was hard to tell where he was pointing to.

“The entire valley…?” Willow’s eyes widened, then she broke out laughing. “I didn’t know you were a marathon runner! I can tell you right now I’m not prepared for that, despite hiking every day at home. ...maybe you could take me on a shorter loop, then do a longer one after you wear me out?”

Steven paused in stretching and placed a hand on the side of his jaw. He glanced around the woods in thought. “Okay….” he mumbled, then seemed to have made up his mind. “We could run to the lake? It’s just that ways a bit,” he said, gesturing away from the shack. “Then I can carry you for a few miles?” He asked, hoping that wasn’t awkward. 

Willow’s green eyes narrowed as she studied Steven, then her face broke out into a mischievous grin. She gently poked his chest and said, “You want to show me something, don’t you? Alright, then, I won’t spoil your surprise.” She brought her finger up, flicked his nose, and took off running. “Come on, slowpoke! Last one to the lake has to wash Axe’s socks!”

Steven stood there for a few seconds, rubbing his nose before he started running. He quickly caught up within two seconds and surpassed her, then ran backwards in front of her. “So, how gross are those socks?” He asked with a smirk on his face. Despite knowing he could outrun her, he kept a slow speed so he didn’t abandon Willow. 

“Raccoon!” Willow pointed behind Steven as he backpedaled.

He abruptly tried to turn around, too quickly, and tripped on a fallen branch. When he was on the ground he looked around, hoping he didn’t hurt it, but then realized there wasn’t any raccoon. “Hey that’s cheating!” he jokingly shouted at her as she ran past him. 

“Not my first race against magic,” Willow stuck out her tongue at him and put on the last burst of speed she had left. “Or boys!”

Steven got up, dusted himself, then ran up next to Willow, keeping her speed. “To be fair, I never agreed to a race,” he said with a sarcastic smile. He didn’t even seem out of breath. 

“To be fair,” Willow panted as she slowed, clutching a stitch in her side and watching Steven pass her, the lake not too far from them, “you did it anyways.”

Steven slowed his speed again to match hers. “Touché.” He then stopped running all together. “We don’t have to run by the way,” he said, his voice full of concern. “You seem to be in pain.” His brows scrunched, lifting his hand up to his face, preparing to lick his hand.

“Not really,” Willow slowed to a stop and put her hands on her knees as she breathed. “I forgot… to stretch my sides. I’m fine. If you lick me, Steven, I’m going to lick you back.” She looked up, so he could see how serious she was. “I’ll do it. From your nose to your forehead with as much saliva as I can fit on my tongue.”

His whole face contorted with horror and disgust. “I wasn’t going to lick you… I would have licked my hand,” he presented his hand, “but that’s only if you were in pain,” then he lowered his hand. 

“A second hand lick,” Willow snorted with laughter, “would you call it…  _ slick _ ?”

The center of Steven’s brows raised. “I honestly don’t know. And trust me, if I could heal people without spit, I could have avoided many awkward healings. My mom had healing tears, but I guess that’s a little less convenient compared to spit,” he ended with a shrug. 

“It was a joke… Second lick, slick…” Willow shook her head and straightened back up. “Never mind, I guess next time I’ll just have to spitball and see if it sticks.”

Steven gave himself a very audible facepalm, then looked back up and laughed. “Okay, that’s good.” His smile brightened as he chuckled. “You ready to keep going?” he asked, gesturing towards the lake. Willow nodded and set off at a slow jog, waiting for Steven to catch up to her side before increasing her pace a little.

“So, who won?” Willow asked Steven as they finally reached the edge of the lake. She put her hands on her hips, looking out over the sparkling expanse of water, with a calm look on her face while she watched the waves lap over the pebbly shore.

“Let’s say you did” Steven responded with a smile, his gaze moving over the ripples in the water. “You know, Ford said this place reminds him of his childhood with Stan. He said they grew up by the beach…” Steven’s brows raised in thought. “The beach I grew up on didn’t look like this at all,” he said with a huffed out laugh as he looked over at Willow. “You like it?” 

“A lot.” Willow nodded, a warm smile on her face as she looked at Steven. “I always liked water, even as a kid. And ever since…” she shook her head and looked out over the lake. “It makes me feel safe. Whenever I get afraid, or have bad panic attacks, I try to seek out water to calm me down.” She looked at Steven, curious, “Did you swim a lot at your beach?”

Steven’s eyebrows scrunched up a bit, but then started to relax. “Yeah, I did a lot when I lived with my dad… It was fun when we’d play or make sand castles, but… sometimes the ocean was a necessity to get cleaned off or other needs. Since we lived in a van, we didn’t really have a bathroom or anything.” He held his arm to his body awkwardly. “Of course we would occasionally be offered a shower at his friend’s house...” His words trailed off as he looked away towards the small island in the middle of the lake. “But after I moved in with the gems I was usually busy on missions… or training… or containing corrupted gems, so I didn’t have much time to swim or goof off or play with other kids. At least till I met Connie. I actually... never went to school, so if I hadn't met her, I would have had a pretty friendless childhood.” He glanced back over at Willow and his face flushed. “Sorry...I was rambling, wasn’t I…?” 

“Don’t be sorry,” Willow said softly and gently touched his forearm. She gestured to the ground and sat to look out over the lake. When Steven sat next to her, she said, “I’m glad you have some good memories with your dad. Life may have been tough, but you had each other for support. I understand how tough it can be, living like that. I’ve never bathed in the ocean before, but that seems like a much more romantic idea than… than doing that in a shelter.” She looked to Steven and reached out a hand, hesitated, then let it rest on his shoulder. “That was a lot you had to deal with, being a kid.”

His eyes glanced over to her hand on his shoulder. Then he looked into her eyes, then back to the water. “Yeah… we had some good memories. He tried his best… but… I don’t know… once the house at the temple was finished, I moved in… and he kinda just… stopped trying. I was the one who had to make the effort to see him. I was like… thirteenish. He’d occasionally send money but it’s not like we had many grocery stores. I ended up eating donuts a lot since that was nearby and cheap. Occasionally fry bits, but they gave those to me for free. The gems don’t eat, so if I wanted to eat, I’d usually have to cook for myself. The gems they… they really shouldn’t have been placed in charge of me. Before my powers started working they’d leave me alone for hours, occasionally days…” he paused and looked down at his exposed gem. “They’d constantly ask me to be like my mom… To do all she could do… They wished she was there so she could help… It made me feel like it was my fault she was gone…” Steven let the words fall away. He couldn’t really talk anymore. He looked back at the lake and sucked in his lips, avoiding Willow’s gaze, wondering why the hell he just said all of that.

There were a thousand things that floated through Willow’s mind, but they were all shoved aside by the feeling overflowing in her soul. Not only heartbreak for Steven’s past, but the overwhelming desire to comfort him and let him know she cared. She slowly reached out, giving Steven time to pull away, and when he didn’t she drew him in close and squeezed him like the force of her hug could put all his pieces back together. One of her hands came up to gently run through Steven’s curls and she whispered to him, “It’s not your fault, Steven. Any of it.”

He breathed in heavily, his exhale choppy as tears started to fall from his eyes. His arms came up and gently draped them around her. He wanted to squeeze her back, but he knew that would kill her. He appreciated the comfort, but for a moment it didn’t feel like the comforting hug of a friend, but more familiar… like family. He gently pulled away, then straightened up and looked back at the island. “Thanks…” he managed to mumble as he wiped the tears off his face with his sleeve. 

“Of course,” Willow nodded, wiping at her own wet face. “Anytime, Steven. I’m here anytime you want to talk, or need a hug or…” she paused, wondering if this would overstep bounds, but wanted to offer it anyways, “or if you ever need a safe place to stay, or just want to get away for a bit, you’re always welcome at Lane 66 with Axe and me. Some of his brothers can be… difficult… but I know they’d welcome you like one of their own.” She added quietly, “If you want to stay for a while, there’s an attic room that you can have for as long as you want. We’d… take care of you.”

He smiled warmly at the thought. “Thank-” he paused when he heard the local fisherman drive up to the lake, “Thanks, so um… can I show you the thing I was planning on showing you before I forget? We can keep talking up there.” 

“Should I close my eyes?” Willow asked, smiling and closing them anyways.

“They  _ may _ dry out, but you can keep them open if you want to look backwards?”

“Nope. Not going to ruin the surprise.” Willow’s smile widened into a smirk and she held up her arms, ready to be picked up. 

He stood up and slid his arm under her knee, the other under her neck, and picked her up like she weighed nothing. “Are you sure you don’t want to see?” he asked as he let himself turn pink. 

“...maybe I wasn’t going to let you see me seeing.” Willow wrapped her arms around Steven’s neck and held on tight. He curled an arm around her protectively, to make sure her neck won’t be damaged by whiplash. 

“Okay then… hang on tight,” he said, then he was off. For him, it looked as though time had slowed down, but he assumed for her it was like going on a rollercoaster that could make your insides sick. He went from running to jumping in a matter of moments and, landing up on the cliff side, he ran a bit more before stopping. Once he stopped running, his color faded and he stood still.

“We’re here,” he announced, not even ten seconds had passed from her perspective.

Willow clung to Steven, her eyes wide. “...give me a moment. ...and I thought I didn’t like shortcuts…”

“Sorry…” he mumbled shyly, “That was probably too fast…” 

“I’m okay,” Willow took a deep breath as she let go of Steven and let herself be lowered onto the ground. She repeated, more for herself than anything, “I’m okay…”

After a few more deep breaths, Willow was able to straighten up and look around. The sight almost took the air she just got back away again. Miles below the cliffs edge, like colorful lines painted into the forest, was Gravity Falls. The mist from the waterfall on their left carried on the breeze and cooled their faces, and a hawk wheeled in the infinite blue expanse of sky above.

“Steven, this is beautiful!” Willow’s smile stretched from ear to ear as she drank in the scene, practically bouncing from excitement. “Thank you for showing me this, you wonderful boy you-!” She grabbed his face and kissed his forehead, unable to express her joy with more words.

Steven stood there awkwardly for a second, blinking excessively as he tried to process what just happened. “N-no problem…” He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the scenery with her. “It’s one of my favorite things about Gravity Falls,” he said, finally shaking out of his awkwardness and offering her a smile. 

Willow took a seat several feet from the cliff’s edge and patted the ground next to her to invite Steven over. She looked out at the sky, content to just sit there and be for a while as they watched the world. “I can see why,” she said quietly, her voice barely discernible over the rumble of the waterfall.

Steven took a small hop into the air and floated down next to Willow. He watched as she gazed at the view. “Did you grow up near the woods?” he asked shyly.

“No,” Willow gently shook her head, “I grew up in the suburbs in the city at the base of Mt. Ebott.”

“But your house with Axe is in the woods?” He asked, curiously, his head tilted. 

“It is.” Willow nodded, glancing at Steven. “I moved there during my last year of college. Sans hired me as their groundskeeper and gave me room and board. I’ve lived there ever since.” She smiled gently as she described it, “It’s a big, red brick house, with a long drive leading up to it, so it’s hidden in the woods. They own the surrounding acres. I think it’s fifty…?” Willow scratched her chin and shrugged. “Either way, Axe claims those woods as his territory. He patrols them and takes care of the animals that live there.”

Steven hummed contently as he closed his eyes. “That sounds nice…” 

“It is.” Willow’s eyes shined. “If you come visit, I’d love to show you my garden. It was a lot of work, planting for nine of us, but we have more than enough for you too if you decide to stay awhile. Most of the flowers are in bloom this time of year and it’s a wonderful place to relax.”

Steven opened his eyes to reveal they were pink with black diamonds before he blinked and they went back to hazel. He smiled brightly at the thought. “I’d love that.” He was picturing what it looked like… slightly going into her mind as she described it. He didn’t mean to, but he got a small visual of the front of the house. It looked like one of those old, southern plantation houses from Connie’s history books, but with an added tower on one side.

Willow giggled, “If you want to explore, I know Axe would love to show you the woods. And if you want to draw the scenes, you could ask Butch for art supplies - he’s a brilliant artist.” Her heart swelled with affection as she thought about home. “Then you could come inside at night for dinner. We always eat together, so you’ll have a chance to talk with everyone then. Pap is one of the best cooks I know, now that he’s got actual recipe books to follow and inspire him. I make dessert, usually. Oh,” Willow added, turning to Steven, “they’re all vegetarian, too, so you’d never have to worry about accidentally eating meat. The only time that’s brought in is when I buy fast food for Red and myself. And if you like video games, Mutt would be stoked to have someone to play against in Smash Bros, even if he does get a little competitive… Or, if you prefer something quieter, Milord might let you use his library if you ask him nicely. ” Willow caught herself rambling, flushed pink, and turned to look at the waterfall. “...if you decide to come, that is.”

“Well, I’ll be in Gravity Falls until the end of summer, but after that, I could go,” he smiled hopefully. “Unless you change your mind later on, then I won't,” he said before scooting forward and hanging his feet off the cliff. “It all sounds really nice.”

“Let’s plan on the end of summer, then,” Willow snuck up on Steven and ruffled his hair. “I’ll need some time to convince Edge not to… throw a fit when he sees you, anyways. And if I have to deal with that pain in the ass and you don’t show up, I’m going to come find you and tell you the worst puns I know until you beg for forgiveness.”

“Why would I beg for forgiveness? That sounds amazing!” he said with a bumbly laugh. 

“....then I’ll lick your face instead.” Willow stuck her tongue out, remembering his look of horror from earlier.

He glanced down at the cliff then back up at her. “Fine, I’ll go,” he huffed out in mock defeat. “Geesh, mom,” he said sarcastically, a smile tugging at his cheeks. However, once he processed what he just said, he considered that floating down the cliff side sounded pretty appealing. He glanced down to the forest floor to avoid her gaze. 

“Hmf, good.” Willow huffed, seeing his discomfort and choosing to ignore his freudian slip. “It’ll take some work, too, moving my things out of the attic and deciding which of my betas to set up with.”

Steven looked back up at her. “I should have asked sooner… but I have no idea what you mean when you say  _ beta. _ ”

“Oh, jeez,” Willow clapped a hand to her forehead, her cheeks turning slightly pink. “Yeah, you should probably know about that before you visit, shouldn’t you? See, um, monsters are polyamorous. They have a main female, the alpha, who will then mark males to make them her betas. It’s like the human equivalent of boyfriend and girlfriend but with… a bit more commitment. As you know,” her color went from pink to red, “I’m the alpha of the house.”

Steven scrunched up his mouth before opening it to speak. “Okay then, that makes sense, I guess, I mean… I know a few polyamous relationships… A fusion who calls themself Fluorite… and three humans back at home.” He paused and his brows furrowed in confusion. “Aren’t they all brothers? It’s not like you’re all together at the same time… right?” he asked, a glint of horror in his eyes. 

“No, nonononono-” Willow waved her hands around, panicking. “That’s not it at all. Monsters can be very possessive of their alphas, they don’t always like to share, but it’s necessary since females are so rare for them and-” she spoke quickly, hoping to explain, “and resources are scarce, so they form packs to keep the female safe and provide for her. But because of that possessiveness, an alpha’s job is to maintain harmony within their pack. Even when the beta’s aren’t related, it’s very rare for them to share intimacy with another beta.”

“Oh… okay,” Steven said while swinging his feet on the side of the cliff. “Then that makes sense… Well… more sense.” 

“You’re welcome to ask questions,” Willow said quietly, timid because of her mistake and Steven’s earlier implication. She stared at the ground, burning this into her mind so that if she ever had to explain this to other humans, she wouldn’t come across as a weirdo. “I had to ask tons of them when I first started living there. Hell, I still do.”

“I think I only have one question right now…” he said shyly, staring off into the distance. He looked really uneasy. 

“What’s that?” Willow moved her legs so she sat cross legged on the ground.

Steven’s eyes glanced over her then back into the forest below them. “Are you, um… okay… being around fire?” He knew her scars were from burns, and he saw how she reacted when he told her he saw them. He wanted to ask her to the bonfire, but was scared to because he didn’t know if she’d be comfortable. 

The color drained from Willow’s face. “I…” she drifted off, her eyes darting around the cliff face to avoid looking at Steven. “I… um,” she drew her legs up and hugged her knees tightly. “I… can… a little. Be around it. I don’t want to get too close, though. Or… or smell smoke.”

A look of fear and concern plastered itself on Steven’s face. “I-I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have asked. It’s just… we’re having a bonfire tonight… and monsters are coming and I thought…. Th-that I’d offer…” He answered nervously, his voice breaking as panic filled him and his cheeks were covered in a pink glow. 

“It’s okay, Steven,” Willow placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I know about the bonfire and I’m going. Ford already invited Axe and me. You left before you heard this, but Ford, Axe, and I were discussing ways to deal with that… intruder problem in a peaceful way. I don’t like fire, but I don’t like the thought of Axe having to resort to violence more. I’ll face it if it means keeping him safe.”

His eyes searched her face for confirmation that he hadn't hurt her. “You sure…? You don’t have to…” He paused and raised a hand to gently place on her toffee colored wrist. “I can make a bubble around you? Or give you a shield? Just in case….?” His eyes looked scared. The glowing, pink color stayed in his cheeks. 

“How about… if I need it… I’ll ask?” Willow smiled and moved her free hand to brush his glowing, pink cheek. “I know I’ll be scared, Steven, but I don’t want to be scared. If I’m going to overcome my fear, I have to face it. Knowing that you’ll be there, just in case, will help. And Axe will probably know before I do, if I’m getting overwhelmed, since he can hear the sound of my soul.”

“I’d probably sense it after it happens…” Steven paused before looking into her eyes. “I can feel it,” he said, gesturing to where he thought his soul was, but since he didn’t know exactly he motioned over his chest in general. “I can feel other people’s emotions… I felt… how my question made you feel. ...I’m sorry…” 

“Don’t be sorry.” Willow said firmly. “It’s not your fault, what happened to me, nor is it your burden to bear. I appreciate that you understood my discomfort, better than anyone else could since you’re an empath, but you don’t need to be sorry.”

He just looked away, humming an understanding in response. “Okay…” 

A few years ago he would have held onto that, he would have blamed himself for how others were feeling pain and how he couldn't change it, but he believed her when she said she can handle it. He sat there silently, looking over the cliff. 

Willow studied the side of Steven’s face, her mind whirring as she thought about everything he had told her, and hadn’t. Everything she observed. “Steven… you don’t have to fix me for me to care about you…”

A pained expression twisted Steven’s face, his mind started whirling. His whole life he’s had to fix things. He had to fix his mom’s mistakes… and the Diamonds’... the Earth… Finally, his grimace relaxed and the color in his cheeks faded. He let out a soft chuckle that was quickly followed by glowing pink tears. He didn’t seem to be crying from the pain or sadness, but from relief. A small smile stayed on his face as the tears streaked down. As his tears dripped onto the ground, flowers quickly sprouted up. 

Willow’s hand moved from Steven’s shoulder to his back. Not knowing what to say in that moment, she gently rubbed his back to give him comfort while he dealt with his thoughts. She watched the blooming flowers curiously, wondering about them and if they grew because Steven was happy, or because that’s just how his magic affected plant life.

Steven’s hands covered his face as he leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. He sat back up, uncovering his face slightly as he watched the freshly bloomed flowers pull themselves out of the ground, shake the dirt from their roots, and run away. His eyes followed them as they ran off before looking back at Willow. “They should be fine…” he said awkwardly, hoping he’s right. 

“I’m…. sure they will be…” Willow leaned back to watch the flowers run up over the slight hill towards the waterfall, her mouth hanging open in astonishment. She had seen plenty of weird things, living in a house of monsters, but nothing like  _ that _ . Slowly turning her gaze back to Steven, she asked, “What about you? Are you okay?”

“I should be okay; the rest of the day seems like it’ll work out. But… I’m sure I’d feel a crap ton better if I could just…” he paused and tightened his fist, “Punch my mom in the face for a bit of closure. But besides that, I think I’ll be okay.” He turned as his first relaxed and smiled softly to Willow. 

“Well, I don’t think I could help with that…” her brow furrowed in thought, “Actually, if you would like to let out some of your frustration, you could ask Axe to spar. He can summon bones for you to hit and, as long as you don’t mind the smell of iron, they would dissipate into plasma upon breaking.”

Steven looked up in thought, then responded, “Well… it sounds like a great offer, but I’d have to refuse. Last time I sparred with someone I…..” he paused, a tightness in his chest, “It didn’t end well… it took a lot to fix them up afterwards…” he mumbled as he looked away towards the train track to the right off the cliff.

Willow hesitated. Axe had told her about Steven’s minute amount of EXP. She knew he had killed once and, with his personality, she could tell it weighed heavily on him. “Then don’t let yourself get that far.” She said, thinking about approaching it a different way. “Axe has limits like that; you saw how he was this morning. Part of the sparring could be recognizing those signs in yourself, to know when you’re getting close to going too far. If anyone could help you recognize those signs, it would be Axe.”

When he looked back at her, his eyes were… wrong. The whites of his eyes were black, as were his pupils, and his irises glowed a dark pink. 

“I can’t…” was all he said before placing a hand over his eyes and slouching over. He knew something was off with his eyes, it hurt him to keep them open.

Willow shuffled her knees across the ground so she could sit close to Steven. One of her arms went around his chest, to hold him, while her other hand gently resumed rubbing his back. “It’s okay, Steven, I understand. What you do is your choice and yours alone. You don’t have to spar if you don’t want to.”

Steven sat there silently, covering his eyes. After a few moments he uncovered his them, feeling that they were back to normal, and mumbled something that he didn’t mean to say out loud. “I wish I had someone like you around when I was growing up…”

Willow’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, then her embrace tightened around Steven as she felt a rush of affection around the tightness in her chest. “...I wish I could have been there, too.” She kissed his hair and leaned her forehead against his curls, blinking the tears back.

His gaze focused on a scraggly pine tree in the distance. “If I had a mom like you… I’m sure I wouldn’t be so fucked up now…” Steven’s brows crinkled at the thought. Maybe if he had been put up for adoption when his dad figured having a child was too hard, maybe he’d be happier now. 

“If you had a mom like me, you’d have 8 crazy skeleton uncles to deal with,” Willow chuckled weakly, trying for some humor to lighten Steven’s mood. Then her brow furrowed as she thought about what she said. “...or would they be your dads… since they’re all my betas?”

Steven let out a small laugh and offered, “Dunkles.” 

“Ohhh no, don’t let Sans hear you say that.” Willow gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her green eyes. “I’ll never hear the end of ‘get dunkled on’.”

Steven got up from Willow’s comfort and laughed. “Sounds like something a dunkle would say.” He tried to join in on moving past the heavy stuff with humor. Humor helped. 

“I can already imagine the look of horror on Milord’s skull if he ever heard you call him that.” Willow giggled. “His eye lights would get all small and he’d probably say something like, ‘how dare you insinuate something so ridiculous!’ and stomp off. Ahh… and Pap would probably get all excited about it...” She looked up at Steven, smiling, and asked, “When we get back, would you like me to make you something? I’ll make your favorite flavor if you tell me what it is.”

“Uh… I’m not sure. I’ve been trying new things to figure it out.” Steven paused as he thought. “I used to love chocolate and ice cream cookiecat sandwiches, but I’ve no idea what my favorite is anymore. You could make whatever,” he said with a smile. “We can head back now, if you want?” he added, glancing to the cliffside.

“Sure, I’m sure Axe is getting worried by now,” Willow said, her arms held out as an invitation to be picked up again. “And when you do visit, you’ll have to fight Red for any chocolate in the house. But don’t tell him I told you that, he’d be  _ livid _ if he knew I told you his secret weakness.”

“Gotcha,” he said as he picked up Willow. “So um… please don’t be mad.” He said, glancing at the cliffside again. Willow’s gaze followed his and her face paled.

“I’m not looking at all this time,” she said and buried her face into his neck. “Deal with it.”

“Okay,” Steven nodded, held her tight, and he jumped off the cliff. He floated down slowly to try and keep Willow comfortable. “Hey look, a hawktopus!” Steven said enthusiastically. Willow just shook her head, refusing to look anywhere or open her eyes. 

“Oh my god-” and a suction sound soon followed. A hawktopus had attached itself to Steven’s face. 

Willow felt the impact and she glanced to see what hit them, then couldn’t help but glance down to see how high they were. She squealed in fright, clinging to Steven with every one of her limbs like a second, human octopus. “Don’tletgodon’tletgodon’tletgo!”

The speed in which Steven was falling had increased, not to a normal falling speed, but faster than his gentle descent. He wanted to get to the ground and get this thing off his face. He tried to warm Willow, but his face was covered. 

Willow screeched in terror at the increased speed, then did the only logical thing that came to her panicked mind: she bit the hawktopus.

The hawktopus made a weird screeching, bubbling sound before detaching and flying off into the forest. Once it was off his face, Steven’s speed slowed down to a gentle descent again. “Sorry...”

Willow didn’t say anything until they were back on the ground. She detached herself from Steven, pale and shaking with adrenaline, and mumbled, “Steven, I love you, but if you make me jump off a cliff again I’ll fucking dust you.”

Steven’s brows rose as he thought of what she just said. What did she mean? He thought he should respond but he didn’t know exactly how to, so he spoke without thinking, and like he suspected, it didn’t make a lot of sense. At least not to him. “I can’t dust, but I appreciate the sentiment.” 

“Then get a feather duster!” Willow snapped and threw a pinecone at him jokingly, the color returning to her face. She sighed and took a shaky step down the trail back towards the Shack. “Come on, dust bunny, let’s go. I’ve decided what I’m going to make you and it’s gonna take a ton of whipped cream.”

Steven laughed, “Is it a pie to the face?”

“Yup,” Willow grinned evilly, “and I know Axe hates to waste food.”

Steven’s mouth gaped open with astonishment, then shut. “What’s up with you guys and licking faces?” 

Willow laughed, “Pap and Milord asked me the same thing. Honestly, it’s just an Axe thing, but I kind of picked it up from him, I think.”

Steven hummed in response, then jogged a bit to stand in front of her, his back to her. “Get on, I’ll run us there.” He turned his head to face her, “Not as fast as last time, I won’t change color, I promise.” 

“Alright,” Willow nodded and hopped on.

Once she was on, he bent his arms back to secure her and then started to run. It wasn’t as fast as the first time, but still dizzyingly fast. Things were still visible around them but blurry, and time was going at normal speed. Like being on an enjoyable roller closter, and not the speed coaster of death. 

“Thank you, Steven,” Willow sighed in relief as the Shack came in sight and they slowed to a stop. She spotted Axe standing on the roof and waved at him as she got down from Steven’s back. In the blink of an eye, Axe disappeared from the roof and reappeared next to them, the smell of iron drifting over them on the breeze.

“...you okay?” Axe asked, his red eye light drifting between Willow and Steven, then settling on Steven as it flickered strangely.

”Yeah, I’m okay,” Steven’s eyes darted to Willow, hoping she’s not genuinely upset with him.

“We’re fine,” Willow gave Axe a reassuring hug and kissed his cheekbone. “Steven showed me around the valley and I’m just feeling a little tired from his fast travel. Is the tent still up? I could use a nap before tonight…”

“...yes.” Axe said, his eye light still focused on Steven. Willow excused herself and wandered back towards the Shack, towards the dark green tent that was half hidden by the shade off of her car.

Axe stood there, his hands in the pockets of his blue hoodie, and stared at Steven. He tilted his skull, a vacant grin on his face, and slowly took a few steps closer until he was inches away. Steven could hear the air going through Axe’s nasal hole as he sniffed him, and then Axe backed away, his red light flickering more frantically.

Without a word, Axe disappeared on the spot, leaving only the smell of iron behind, reappeared by the tent just as Willow was making her way in, and he followed her inside. Steven stood there for a moment, wondering what in the world Axe had been doing, but shrugged it off. It wasn’t the weirdest thing Axe had done since Steven met him.

~~~

“I’m so glad you all can make it to my little shindig!” Mabel said loudly, standing on a log, holding a can of pit cola in the night air. “Most of you have met Steven,” she gestured to Steven with her free hand, “but today we have some guests, one is a lovely human named Willow, and the other is a skeleton monster named Axe! So how ‘bout we give them a warm welcome!” 

There was an array of strange surface monsters and people, some manotaurs, the multibear, Gnomes, five blonde identical men, tiny little golf ball looking people who scampered across the ground, and many more. Occasionally there was a monster head that would pop out of the lake, and a mothman that would make the odd appearance off and on. Two of Mabel’s friends came, but they just grouped up around Mabel and talked together. Waddles was lying on the forest floor by Mabel’s feet.

“Th-thanks for having us!” Willow chuckled nervously, her voice higher than usual, as she grabbed at the sleeves of a leather jacket she wore over her crimson shirtdress. Axe took one of her hands and gave it a small, reassuring squeeze as she glanced nervously at the bonfire a dozen yards away. She dry swallowed past a lump in her throat and squeaked out, “ _ Ihopewecanbefriends!” _

Axe gently tugged at her arm, guiding Willow in a large circle around the blaze as the wind changed direction, to keep her out of the path of smoke. “...you sure… you’re okay?” he whispered to her, his red light darting around the crowd as he appraised the surface monsters.

“Fine!” Willow nodded a bit too enthusiastically. “G-go meet some new friends, hun. I’ll b-be fine. I’m just…. I’ll go talk to those nice looking monsters.” She gestured towards the lake, which was quite a bit darker since it was on the edge of the firelight. She gave Axe a quick kiss on his cheekbone, then scampered off. Axe slowly put his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, his eye light watching her as she knelt at the water’s edge, and his vacant grin returned as he listened to her soul calm down with the sight of the waves. Slowly, Axe turned his skull back to the crowd, his nasal cavity lifted to scent the wind, and he silently merged into the crowd as he followed his curiosity’s whims.

“Hey, you having fun?” Mabel asked, as she knelt down next to Willow by the lake, holding two drinks. It had been awhile since the party started and, as it’s host, Mabel felt it was her duty to make sure her guests were having a good time.

“Oh, yes!” Willow smiled warmly, her demeanor much more relaxed now that she was away from the fire. She gestured to the nessie-like monster she had been talking to and said, “This kind sir was just explaining to me what his home looked like under the lake. He says he knows you rather well, too!” 

Mabel’s brow raised in surprise as she glanced at the serpentine head of the Gobblewonker peeking slightly out of the water. “You… understand what he’s saying?” There was a small plop when the monster dipped his head back into the water, vanishing from sight. 

Willow nodded. “I wasn’t too sure if the monsters here would have the same dialect, but he understands Font just fine. Monster language,” Willow explained to the confused look on Mabel’s face. “They don’t speak their native tongue with words, they use the intent in their soul. Axe’s brother taught me how to speak it. Gobbles has a bit of an accent, but we understand each other’s intent just fine.”

“Hmmm… that’s cool!” Mabel said with a wide smile on her face. “Want a pit cola?” she said while holding up the unopened can in her hand. “It’s like… peach.”

“Thank you,” Willow graciously accepted the can, popped it open, and took a long drink. With a sigh of satisfaction, she then asked, “So, if you don’t mind me asking about it… Gobbles told me you dated a merman once? What was that like?”

“Oh, it was great!” she said with a closed smile. “My first kiss… but then he had to get married to a manatea to prevent a civil war… So, it was a total bummer, but hey, that’s okay, we’re still friends,” she ended with a smile. “Jeff and I are also friends now, but things didn’t end on great terms at first.” 

“Jeff?” Willow tilted her head curiously.

“Oh! Doi,” she let out a small laugh. “Um… he’s that little guy over there,” she said as she turned around and pointed to a little brown haired gnome. 

“I remember Steven telling me about gnomes…” Willow mumbled, not trying to be offensive. “I made a joke about the deer making me their queen and he mentioned them. He didn’t,” her voice became stern with concern as she turned her gaze back towards Mabel, “he didn’t try to pressure you into making him your beta, did he?”

“Uhhh…” Mabel looked up for a second, “They  _ did  _ kidnap me... and tried to force me to marry all thousand of them. Dipper came and took me from them, but they stacked into a giant gnome all together and threw trees at us, but we talked about it. They’re sorry, they’re just lonely and desperate for a Queen.” she ended with a shrug. 

“Hm...” Willow’s brow scrunched up in thought as she took another sip of pit cola. “I’m glad you worked it out with them. Though, if I may give you a bit of advice, as one alpha to another, you should make sure that you assert yourself more so that they understand who’s in charge. Monsters respond to a dominant alpha and, if you want to date more monsters in the future, you shouldn’t try to take on more betas than you can handle.”

“I… have no idea what you mean. Alpha as in like… the top best person? Or...?” Mabel asked with a tilted head. 

“Wait, you don’t know about...?” Willow’s brows shot up in surprise. “I thought, since you dated monsters before… but maybe it works differently for surface dwellers…” her hand scratched the side of her face as she thought. Steven didn’t know what she had meant either, when she explained it to him. “I meant alpha as in, the… one who is in charge of the pack. I’m guessing surface monsters are also polyamorous, from what you told me about Jeff and the other gnomes. The female in the relationship is the alpha and the males she takes on are the betas. At least,” Willow glanced over her shoulder at the crowd, “that’s how it is for the ones in the Underground.”

“I think that’s only how it works with the Gnomes, because other monsters I’ve dated are pretty monogamous.” Mabel said with a crunched brow. “Maybe it’s just that way for the Underground?”

“Maybe,” Willow chuckled and looked back out over the dark lake and the stars rippling over the black, mirror-like surface. “I’m… glad to know that there are other girls willing to give them a chance like you do, Mabel. It makes me happy to know there are other open minds out there.”

Mabel picked up a small rock and threw it so the rock was skipping across the surface of the water, causing a series of circular ripples. “I mean, if someone makes you happy, then there shouldn’t be anything wrong with it.” She paused for a second while she thought. “Unless they are siblings or something… or if Candy tried dating grunkle Stan… then that might be weird.” She turned and looked at Willow. “It’s nice to know it wasn’t just me.” 

“I mean...” Willow flushed pink, remembering her botched explanation to Steven. “Axe’s brothers are my betas, but they don’t do anything with each other - they just have me for that. They keep their relationship with each other strictly on a family level and we work together so that no one gets jealous or feels like they’re not getting enough attention.”

“That’s cute,” Mabel smiled, then tried to skim the crowd for Willow’s partner. “So far, from what I’ve seen, you seem really happy with Axe. I’m not sure about the others, but I’m sure you would have dropped them if they weren’t making you happy.”

“They all make me very happy,” Willow giggled, then her face fell just slightly as she thought of one of her betas in particular. “Sometimes they can be a bit infuriating… but no one is perfect, you know? But let’s back up for a moment,” Willow grinned and leaned forward. “Did you say that Stan tried to date  _ candy _ ? I gotta hear this story.” 

Back over at the bonfire, Axe quietly slid through the crowd, stalking his point of interest. The sound of the many souls here were almost overwhelming - he never would have guessed his surface kin would have sounds similar to humans - but there was one thing he still hadn’t figured out. He followed the scent trail, pausing occasionally to pick it apart from the powerful smells of roasting marshmallow, the acidic smoke from the pine logs in the fire, and the salty, sometimes musky scent from the sweat of monsters and humans alike.

He found his prey sitting on a log, their back turned towards him. Axe snuck up behind Dipper, who was distracted by conversation from Steven, and sat on his bony ankles, letting the scent of the kid wash over him as he titled his skull in confusion.

Steven and Dipper had been facing the fire, deep in their conversation, but when Steven turned away from tuning his guitar to look back at Dipper, he noticed Axe sitting behind him. His current sentence fell away.

“Hey Axe,” Steven greeted, hoping to not alarm Dipper. Dipper turned to see that Axe was less than a foot away, he jumped back and slightly bumped into Steven. 

“H-hi,” Dipper managed, silently wondering how long Axe had been there watching them. 

“...hi.” Axe mumbled, his red eye light darting momentarily to Steven before coming back to rest on Dipper. His vacant grin stretched slightly in what he hoped was a friendly way. Unfortunately, despite his intent, it ended up just being kind of creepy.

Steven, hoping to relieve the uncomfortable feeling he’s getting off of Dipper, asked Axe, “You enjoying the bonfire? Meet any new monsters?” Steven said with his brows turned up in the middle above an awkward smile. Dipper was still leaning back onto Steven, his guitar poking into Dipper’s back. 

“...yes,” Axe said vaguely to Steven, then tilted his skull again at Dipper. “...you don’t need… to make those… chittering noises. ...I’m just… trying to… figure out your… scent.”

“Ch-chittering? My scent? What? What do you mean?” Dipper’s head tiled with confusion but his face looked focused, like he was really trying to figure out Axe’s intentions. 

Axe pointed at Dipper’s chest. “...your soul’s noise. ...when it’s… anxious it’s like… a chittering… raccoon.” Axe then pointed at Steven, “...his mewls and… when Willow’s anxious… hers twitters.” Axe leaned forward slightly, scenting the air around Dipper, “...but… I don’t understand… your scent. ...are you… male or… female? ...it’s like… you’re both… but not?” Axe’s eye light narrowed with confusion and he scratched at the side of his skull. “...it’s almost like.. you’re marked but… by yourself?”

Dipper’s expression quickly went from confused to irritated. He was practically glaring into Axe’s eye light, wondering who gave him the right to ask such invasive questions. His head quickly turned to look at Steven, hoping for some kind of assistance. Steven’s expression just looked like he was swearing continuously in his head, which he was. Dipper’s pleading eyes got to Steven and he came in with, “Dipper’s a male”. Dipper’s expression relaxed slightly at Steven’s words. 

Axe frowned, his bony hand cupping his jaw. He didn’t understand why asking questions made them angry, but he wanted to understand. “...I still don’t… get it.” His eye light came up to dart between Steven and Dipper. “...sorry… I don’t… know very much… about humans. ...I was trying to… figure it out… on my own but…” Axe’s bony brow scrunched in confusion. “...I haven’t… come across something… like this before.”

Dipper wanted to hold onto his frustration, but he sensed that Axe wasn’t trying to be malicious or rude, he was just confused. Dipper whispered something to Steven, then stood up. “I'm going to get a soda…” 

Once Dipper left, Steven smiled at Axe with an awkward, toothy smile. “He wants me to tell you, he doesn’t want to deal with talking about it right now…” He sighed and tried to think of all the right words. “So, um… Dipper and Mabel were born identical twins… both born with the assigned gender of female… however, Dipper came out as a boy… just with the wrong bits....” he paused for a second, looked down, and tapped his fingers on the body of his guitar, “So...he’s been working on correcting that… he takes hormones and such to help him. In a little over a month, he’s getting a surgery that’ll help him feel more like himself in his own skin...” He finally looked up at Axe. “Does that make sense?” 

Axe looked at the pine needles strewn on the ground, his red light flickering. Occasionally, he’d mumble to himself as he thought, but they were all disjointed words that didn’t make any sense. After a long while, he looked up at Steven. “...kind of. …Willow has… explained medicine… and the idea… of surgery to me… since we don’t have… those things in… the Underground. ...I didn’t know it was… possible… to change a gender.” Axe’s gaze fell to the guitar, then he turned to examine the monsters in the crowd. “...my kind are stuck… as we are born. ...but we are free… to love anyone... so… there’s that.”

“Hmm…” Steven’s fingers on his left hand gently slid down the strings on the fingerboard. “Well, when Dipper gets back, you think you can just… treat him… accordingly?” He hoped he was using that word correctly. 

“...my opinion hasn’t… changed. ...I still… like...” Axe considered his words, “...him. ...I just… didn’t understand… is all.”

Steven’s hand came up to rest on Axe’s shoulder and he offered him an appreciative smile. Dipper walked up to them soon after, struggling to cradle three soda cans in his arms. “You um… want one? Apparently Mabel accidentally got caffeine free, so it won’t be that good.” Dipper said with a shrug. Steven took two to relive Dipper and offered one to Axe. Dipper seemed a bit more relaxed than before. 

Axe took the can in his bony hands and turned it over, his red light flickering as he thought. He glanced at Dipper, at Steven, then set the soda on the ground. He disappeared in an instant, leaving behind the smell of iron to drift over them. Not even ten seconds later, he reappeared in the same spot, his hands behind his back.

“...these… came from a proud… buck.” Axe said, presenting a pair of large antlers to Dipper. “...I was going… to give them to… my brother, but… I think… you should have them… instead.”

Dipper took the antlers in his hands and looked at them, a smile tugging on his lips, then he glanced back up at Axe. “Thanks,” he said, a full smile apparent on his face. Axe nodded, took the can of soda from the ground, and busied himself with opening it to hide the slight red color on his nasal ridge.

Steven smiled brightly from his seat, he was glad everything was okay. 

“Hey we gotta go,” Jeff announced, speaking loudly for the rest of the gnomes, while tugging on the hem of Dipper’s pants. 

“Oh okay, I’ll go tell Mabel,” Dipper nodded, then got up to join his sister and Willow by the lakeside, leaving Axe with Steven. 

Steven watched as Dipper walked away, sort of the same way a sibling would when trying to make sure someone is staying safe. Gently plucking at his guitar strings, he turned back towards Axe, who was already staring at Steven. 

“Yes?” 

Axe turned away to stare at the fire. His bony fingers fidgeted with the can in his hands as he thought, trying to make sure what he wanted to ask, to say, wouldn’t come out wrong again and make anyone upset. “...how… did you…” Axe growled softly, frustrated with himself and his lack of time to find the words. “...was it… hard… for your parents… to make you?”

“Uh…” Steven let out a huff of laughter and confusion. “Um…..I’m not sure. I’d rather not think of the whole ‘making’ me part… but do you mean like the human-gem hybrid thing?” He raised a brow at Axe, who nodded. “Well… I’m not sure if other gems could do it since my mom had the power to grant life… but I was only able to come to be once my mom sacrificed her physical form, this gem,” he said as he lifted his shift to show his pink gem, “this was hers, and gems are  _ only _ their gem and light projection, so for a very long time others and myself… believed that she was just in there.” He lowered his shirt back down. “But she’s not, she was gone once I was… born?” He wasn’t quite sure if it counted as being born. “It’s uh… complicated.” 

Axe slowly nodded again and sat quietly with Steven while the other surface monsters gradually started to drift off into the night. Axe’s low voice mumbled, barely discernible over the cracks and pops of the fire, “...I didn’t… know my mom… either. ...she didn’t keep me… or any of my brothers.”

“Moms… huh?” Steven said with a sad chuckle, his gaze settling on Waddles, who was sleeping by a log. He looked back up at Axe. “Why um… why did you ask about how my parents made me, anyway?”

Axe’s eye light softened and a tender smile formed on his skull. He looked away to try and hide it. “...I’ve… wanted to ask… Willow if she…” Axe scratched at the side of his skull, a furious red flush blooming across his nasal ridge as he spoke. “...she… doesn’t let us… claim her during… her heats. ...she said she’s not… ready, but… she marked you. ...so I thought… maybe she is. ...she just… hasn’t said so…” He sighed, adding, “...but… there’s never been… a hybrid before. ...of a human and… a monster.”

Steven’s head tilted, and a single brow rose in surprise. “She...marked me?” From what he’s heard so far, that’s like a relationship kind of thing, his second brow raised along with the first moving his expression from confused to shocked. 

Axe nodded and explained, “...females don’t leave… scent marks, normally. ...that’s what the… male does to… his alpha. ...females leave… physical marks… on their betas, but… only mark their young… with scent.”

The shocked expression on Steven’s face switched back to confused. “Their… young...?” 

“...she might not… know she did it.” Axe shrugged. “...humans don’t… have a good sense… of smell like… my kind.” he turned his skull to look at Steven. “… but she had to have… the intent to do it… or else… it wouldn’t have… happened.”

Steven looked down at his guitar and recalled his conversation with Willow on the cliff. “Well I uh…. made a comment this morning….” He paused and awkwardly looked at Axe, “Along the line… that if I had a mom like her… I would have been better off… then she said something like... if she was my mom... I’d have a lot of dads. Uncles. Dunkles?” He still wasn’t sure how that’d work. Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl were like his mom’s, but he never called them ‘maunts’.

“...doesn’t matter.” Axe shrugged, “...since she marked you… her betas… will treat you like… their own ...no matter what …you call them.” Axe reached up and touched Steven’s forehead, his bony fingers brushing back into his curly hair. “...scent is… a big thing… for us. ...we don’t… mark lightly. ...and,” Axe withdrew his hand to stare at it, “...I understand… what you mean. ...I wouldn’t… have chosen Willow… if I didn’t think… she’d make a good mother.”

A smile tugged on Steven’s cheek and the middles of his brows rose. “So then… what would you prefer to be called?” 

“....just… ‘Axe’ is fine,” he said with a grin. “...and I would… suggest that… if you meet my… brothers to… call them by name… too.” Axe’s red eye light turned to hold Steven’s gaze. “...it will be… less confusing… for all of us… and… no one… will get jealous… over special titles.”

“Ah I see… Okay, then.” Steven raised his brows as he realized Ford and Stan were the last people by the firepit. The twins were walking back up from the lake, with Willow close behind them. The Pines family gathered around and sat on the logs by the fireplace, while Willow skirted around the pit, giving the flames a wide berth until she reached the log that Steven and Axe shared. She settled in behind them in the shadows, her eyes darting nervously towards the flickering fire, and wrapped her arms around Axe. His hands met hers, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze while she let her forehead rest between his shoulder blades, hiding the sight of the bonfire with his form.

Mabel enthusiastically clapped her hands together. “It took all night, but we’re all together again!” she said as a big smile covered the bottom half of her face. “Yo! Guitar man, are you going to play something, or just sit there and look like one of those mysterious rocker kids?” she asked Steven, teasingly. 

“Sorry,” Steven’s shoulders rose an inch. “It’s new, I had to tune it.” 

“So is it done? Are you going to awe us with your skills?” she taunted him. 

Steven looked around at the group. “Is that okay with everyone?” The Pines family said yes and nodded, then Steven looked to the new guests, hoping it was okay. 

Axe and Willow exchanged a glance. “It’s fine with us,” Willow nodded, her grip tightening slightly around Axe.

Steven strummed the guitar one last time, making sure it was perfectly tuned before starting. He took a deep breath in before softly strumming tab after tab, the chords harmoniously blending together as he switched from one to the other. His low voice carried as he started singing.

“ _ Look at the stars… look how they shine for you… and everything you do… and they were all yellow, _ ” As he started singing he closed his eyes, feeling the vibrations in the body of the instrument. “ _ I came along… I wrote a song for you… and all the things you do… and it was called ‘yellow’. _ ” His voice gently transitioned to a higher octave, “ _ Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones, turn into something beautiful. You know, you know I love you so. You know I love you so. _ ” 

Willow smiled gently, holding Axe in her arms while he practically melted off the back of the log and into her lap. She suppressed a giggle and gently ran her fingertips over the top of his skull. The intent in music had a powerful effect on monsters, she knew that. It was why she sang to calm Axe down. Willow glanced at Steven, knowing that there must be a lot of love and comfort in his intent to get Axe practically purring with contentment. 

Ford had leaned back so he could look into the night sky, thanks to nature and lack of air pollution, he could see thousands of stars; constellations he wasn’t able to see back in Jersey. He felt content. He was with friends and family, just that was enough to lift his spirits. Stan’s head was tiredly leaning onto Ford’s shoulder, he felt like Steven was singing a lullaby, and the longer it went the more tired he got. 

If Steven wasn’t practically an adopted cousin at this point, he would be Mabel’s dream guy. She listened to his voice that sounded like sweet honey in her ears. The thought of honey in her ears made her cringe slightly, but she couldn't get herself to stop feeling like his singing was like a big blanket of comfort. Dipper sat silently with a leg crossed and propped up so he could hold his journal on his lap, he drew a picture of Steven playing the guitar and the reactions it seemed to have on everyone. He suspected it was due to Steven’s magic because before he had started singing, he felt a little anxious, like something bad was going to happen, but now all he felt was ease and comfort.

“ _ I swam across… I jumped across for you… oh, what a thing to do, cause you were all yellow... Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones, turn into something beautiful, and you know… for you I’d bleed myself dry… for you I’d bleed myself dry… _ ” his voice lowered when he sang the last lines, “ _ Look at the stars… look how they shine for you… and all the things you do… _ ” 

As he finished off the song he gently plucked at the last notes, then opened his eyes with his final strum. 

“That was beautiful, Steven,” Willow said quietly, smiling. She would have clapped, but both of her arms were being held hostage by Axe, who merely opened his sockets to reveal a soft, cloudy red light, and gave Steven a thumbs up.

A shy blush appeared on Steven’s face as the Pines family started clapping. “Thanks guys.” A bright smile touched every part of his face. A light shimmer even shot out when he had smiled, it was hard to tell if that was magic or a bunch of sparkly bugs; at least that’s what Dipper suspected. 

Once the song had ended, Mabel reached down to pet waddles, but there was one problem… He wasn’t there.

“Waddles?” She said at an average talking volume, her voice filled with confusion, but soon filled with concern. “Did any of you see where Waddles went? He was  _ just  _ here!” she stood up and her eyes were zipping all around “No. No no no no… He was just here…” Steven, sensing her increasing fear, started glowing pink. 

“Hey, maybe he followed one of the monsters home?” Dipper suggested, shoving his journal in his bag and, standing up, pulled out a flashlight. 

“...the pig didn’t… leave.” Axe mumbled from Willow’s lap, his sockets closed as he tried to hold on to the feeling the song gave him. “...it was… taken.”

“W-what? By what?!” Mabel demanded, fear consuming her soul. 

Axe cracked open his left socket, his red light quickly losing its cloudiness and becoming sharp from the combined, anxious sounds of Mabel and Steven’s souls. “...a monster. ...the same one… trying to break in… to your house ...last night.”

“It was here?” Ford asked, his voice firm. “How long ago?”

“...the whole… time.” Axe opened both sockets and his red light moved to Ford. “...it did not… approach, but… I do not forget… soul sounds. ...especially… those of… potential threats.”

In attempt to cover up his own fear, Stan placed a hand on Mabel’s shoulder. “Don’t worry pumpkin, he’ll be okay, we’ll make sure of it.” 

“Do you know where it went?” Ford asked with a raised brow, pulling out a scientific looking gun and a flashlight. 

“...to get eaten.” Axe snapped, bristling from the screeching noise of so many human souls filled with fear. Willow’s grip around him tightened and he relaxed very slightly, looking up into her eyes. The green was calming to him, despite the restless twitter of concern in her soul.

“Axe,” she said gently, carefully running her finger tips over his skull to avoid his scar, “they’re worried. That pig is Mabel’s pet and she loves him. You’re the best at finding things, so won’t you help them?”

Axe scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “...you heard… Ford this morning. ...it’s just… hungry. ...it could have …gone after any ...of you, but it ...didn’t. ...you should be ...happy that ...my surface kin told me … they don’t need magic ...like I do.”

“Still,” Willow rubbed her thumb along the side of Axe’s jaw. The simple touch made him grin and his irritation started to melt away. “If it’s hungry, why don’t we find it and then you can help it hunt? That way, Mabel’s happy and the monster doesn’t go hungry.”

A small sigh escaped Axe. His hand reached up to bring Willow’s face to his so he could give her a small kiss. “...okay. ...I’ll need to… get it’s scent, first.”

Axe hopped to his feet, helped Willow up, and then headed towards the spot Mabel had just been sitting. He got onto his bony knees behind her log and leaned over the spot Waddles had been sleeping, the sound of him sniffing the air audible in the silence around the dying fire. After a moment he stood, turning his skull this way and that to catch the wind, and then he pointed towards the trees. “...that way.”

The flashlights and eyes all darted to the direction Axe had pointed to, but without thinking, Mabel ran that direction, yelling for Waddles. She was quickly stopped by Steven “Mabel… you shouldn’t go alone.” 

Dipper chimed in, “We should all go together,” he said trying to be positive. “If we’re together one of us could spot him.” 

“But if we’re all together and they went a different way, he could be lost forever!” Mabel pleaded. 

“...he won’t… be lost.” Axe approached Mabel’s side and reached out a bony hand, hesitated, then let it rest on her shoulder. “...I have… his scent. ...I can follow his trail… exactly and… when we get closer… I’ll be able… to hear his soul… and pinpoint… where he is.”

“Then what should we do?” Ford asked Axe, his brow raised, and remaining calm. Axe’s red light glanced around the group and he hesitated again.

“Why don’t we all follow him?” Willow suggested, her hands tugging at the sleeves of her leather jacket. “No one wants to sit and wait for news. Axe can lead the way and we can keep each other safe just in case.”

“Sounds good,” Ford said, getting a confirming nod from Stan and the kids. Steven hesitantly nodded, trying to seem confident, but his glow remained prominent. 

Axe shrugged, then waved for them to follow as he strode confidently into the dark trees. “...just keep some… distance from me. ...I won’t hear… his soul if… you’re all too… close.”

“G-got it,” Stan said, trying to stay calm and supportive for Mabel. The group slowed down, giving Axe space, while their eyes darted from tree to tree trying to make sense of the dark figures surrounding them. Steven walked far behind the group, he had to make sure he was watching all of them, he had to make sure they were all okay, and his pink glow illuminated the trees around him. Occasionally reflective eyes would be visible from their flashlights, or a small flock of eye-bats would fly over them. 

“It’ll be okay, Mabel,” Willow said gently to her, trying to reassure her as they picked their way over the uneven ground after Axe. She watched as he paused, his skull drifting side to side as he tried to recapture the scent trail. Axe made a sharp turn, off the path and into the deep tangle of woods. “Axe can find anything. He told me he showed you those bobcat kittens he found. Did you like that?”

“Y-yeah… those were cute…” She wrapped her arms around herself, “But not as cute as Waddles…” 

“He is definitely the cutest pig I’ve ever seen,” Willow smiled, thinking to keep Mabel positive with good memories, and moved a prickly pine branch out of Mabel’s way as they moved deeper into the forest. “Did you get him as a little piglet? He seems really attached to you.”

“He was a little piglet, maybe a few months old. A whole fifteen pounds!” Mabel said while lifting her arms up to show a relatively small size. “Now he’s like… two hundred pounds… probably more.” Her arms stretched out all the way to show his growth. “He’s my family…” her hands dropped back down as her head drooped. 

“We’ll find him,” Willow placed a gentle hand on Mabel’s shoulder. “And I bet he’ll be so excited to see you, we’ll have to catch him before he jumps on you. He might be two hundred pounds now, but I bet he still thinks he can sit in your lap just like when he was little.”

“Oh definitely,” Mabel said with a smile. “Sometimes he tries cuddling with me in the morning, but all he does is wake me up, and knock the wind out of me… But I wouldn’t mind…” Her smile dropped again. Her gaze went up to Axe and the rest of the group, then a small glance behind her at her glowing friend trailing behind. “I’m sorry everyone has to come along...I’m sure I could have handled it on my own.” 

“Don’t be silly, we’re all more than happy to help you,” Willow gave Mabel’s shoulder a small squeeze and her gaze looked forward to check on Axe. He had stopped in front of the mouth of a cave, his hands in his pockets, and his red light looked at them over his shoulder.

“...I should… go alone from… here.” Axe said, his low voice firm. He looked back to the mouth of the cave and added quietly, “...it could be… dangerous inside.”

“Mabel… maybe it’s best for them to go in and we can wait out here…” Dipper said, hoping he could convince his sister to take a safer route. 

“I can’t just let them go in there to save him…” Mabel started walking forward but was stopped by Dipper, his eyes pleading. 

“I’ll make sure Waddles comes home with you tonight… okay?” Steven said, looking down into Mabel’s sad brown eyes. “You trust me?” and with that, she nodded softly.

“We can wait together,” Willow offered the twins, giving Steven a small smile. “I’ll make sure we’re safe.”

“...there are no… predators out here.” Axe said as he slowly walked over to the group. “...just… the one… inside.”

“And you’ll stay with the group?” Willow asked Axe, her tone firm. “I don’t want you trying to do anything on your own.”

Axe shrugged, his eye light glancing briefly at Steven. “...I’ll only do… what I must.”

Steven tensed up, he didn’t want to be responsible for any loss of life, or not stopping something from happening. 

Ford pointed his flashlight in. “Then let us proceed,” he said firmly, his eyes glancing at Steven, who was still brightly glowing pink. “You can stay here with the kids if you want.” 

Steven shook his head at Ford’s offer. “Let’s just go,” he mumbled. Then he, Stan, and Ford all made their way into the cave after Axe. 


End file.
